Your Fate
by WillWork4Bacon
Summary: It's been more than a week since their last body swap and Mitsuha believes she's back to living her normal life. That is until their class receives a new student, a boy from Tokyo named Tachibana Taki.
1. The New Student

Warm rays of sun flowed into the room and illuminated every inch the light could touch. As the sun rose above the mountains so too came the morning as the day began anew. The day of September 30th, 2013 began just like every other in the rural town of Itomori. Many awoke in the infancy of the daylight and began their day with morning breakfast before going to meet the humdrum daily challenges of life. Miyamizu Mitsuha awoke early in the day as her cool room was warmed by the invigorating rays of the sun. The young girl let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes as she sat there on the futon located in the center of her room. She looked around at the familiar setting and then down at her own pink sleepwear, a two piece pink set with the upper half having light pink frills around the edges, and the lower portion being decorated with a pattern of orange silhouettes of a hedgehog.

Mitsuha knew that she was herself and not someone else. Having spent many days swapping bodies with a boy in Tokyo by the name of Tachibana Taki, she learned to make herself aware of her surroundings whenever she would awake. It was certainly an odd scenario to say the least, sporadically living the life of a boy her age in Tokyo while he would take her place in the small lakeside town iwithin Gifu Prefecture. No reason had ever come to explain what had started the strange occurrence, nor did either of them fully understand how it was happening. All they knew was that two times a week, at entirely random days, they would go to sleep and wake up the next day as each other. At first they were both shocked that it was truly occurring, as it seemed more dream-like and surreal. But they quickly laid out rules in order to protect their own lifestyles and privacy and both Taki and Mitsuha had learned to adjust with the irregular body swapping.

But on that Monday morning Mitsuha woke up as herself, and she would be starting the school week as herself. Her day began routinely as her younger sister Yotsuha slid open the door to her room. The younger nine year old girl stood there in the doorway with one hand still placed on the sliding door. Her oil black hair was tied into twin-tails on either side of her head, and her caramel brown eyes were fixated on her older sister. Yotsuha was already dressed in her school uniform and ready for the day, while Mitsuha had just woken up mere moment ago. "Looks like you finally stopped touching your boobs in the morning." Yotsuha commented in a sarcastic tone and with a deadpan expression. "Come on, breakfast is ready." With that she slid the door to her sister's room shut. Mitsuha continued to stare the the door with a glower scowl across her face. Judging from her sister's comment, it had sounded as if Taki had made a habit of touching her breasts whenever he would awake in her body. She would have to make a mental to note to get him back for that. Yet she could not help but feel melancholic.

It had been over a week since they had last swapped bodies, and it was now starting to set in that the phenomena had ended. Never again would she inhabit Taki's body and live his life, going to his school, enjoying time with his friends, and working at the Italian restaurant with Okudera. Nor would he ever posses her body and live her life as the tomboy Mitsuha that had boosted her acceptance at school. Instead she would return to her life before the entire ordeal. She was now confined to the life of a girl living in the rural countryside. Her duties as a shrine maiden would likely keep her tied to the town for the remainder of her life while she yearned for the city life. Mitsuha let out a sigh as the realization of her reality was setting in. She stood up from her futon and changed into her school uniform. Mitsuha then came downstairs dressed in that blue pleated short skirt and white button up shirt with a red ascot. Her younger sister and grandmother were already at the table and indulged in their meal.

"You're finally up." Mitsuha's grandmother Hitoha remarked. "You had better eat up before school." Mitsuha knelt down at the table directly across from her grandmother as Yotsuha sat on the side between them. Mitsuha helped herself to a portion of rice and tamagoyaki as the news played on the TV behind her. Hitoha seemed to always have the news playing when they got up in the morning. They would listen to stories that came in from places far and away from the mountainside town of Itomori. Sometimes it would be about the the exposure of a corrupted official in some city, other times it would be about conflict in the middle east, or something about the conflicting politics of the states. Lately the biggest news was about the approaching comet Tiamat that passed by the Earth once ever 1,200 years. The comet would be visible to the naked eye for the rest of the week, but Friday was when it would reach its perigee and pass closest to Earth. It was an event the world over was excited to see as everyone felt lucky to witness such a rare cosmic event. The woman newscaster was speaking about the comet at Mitsuha dug into her breakfast. She was reminding the listeners that on that coming Friday the comet would pass closest to Earth and will be a spectacle truly worth beholding. For the Miyamizu household along with the rest of the village it was not the only important event of the week.

"You know, the fall festival will be held on Friday as well." Hitoha reminded her two grandchildren. "Will you two be going this year?"

"Of course!" Yotsuha declared enthusiastically. "I love going to the fall festival every year. It's always so much fun."

"What about you Mitsuha?" Hitoha asked her eldest granddaughter.

"...Oh..." Her response was delayed and her voice was low. "Yeah, it sounds like fun." Mitsuha went on to finish her meal while her elder picked up on what her sister could not. After they had finished breakfast the two sisters headed off the school, saying goodbye in unison before departing. Hitoha watched them leave and head down the path to school. Her focus was more on Mitsuha who seemed to be more like herself once more, and though she would say nothing Hitoha was fairly certain she knew what was going on. That Mitsuha's dream had come to an end.

* * *

Yotsuha took a different path than her sister as she was still in elementary school. Mitsuha headed for the high school that was a farther walk and located on the very edge of town. Mitsuha was left to her thoughts once more as she trekked on alone. The end of her body-swapping ventures still weighed heavy on her mind, along with the well being of Taki. She wasn't even sure of what she would say their relationship was. They had inhabited each other's bodies, swapping lives and even aiding each other in the other's life. They had their fights and their arguments, but they still had lived each other's life in an experience that would never be shared with anyone else. She was not sure if she could say they were friends, but she thought that if she ever met Taki she would certainly treat him as such.

Mitsuha hoped he would do the same, and her mind then wandered to what his life was like that their shared experience was over. He was back to his everyday life in Tokyo with his friends and job at the Italian restaurant. She envied him that he was at least able to live his life in Tokyo with far more luxuries and future options available to him. She was sure he would enjoy himself and spend time with his friends as well as Okudera. She wondered if he had many any progress of his own over the last few weeks, as she was the one who had really helped when they were still switching bodies. Mitsuha pondered for what reason that had come to a stop. Perhaps the comet was some sort of interference from a cosmic signal or something. To be perfectly honest she had no idea what had even started it. Her mind wandered and she began to fear that something bad had happened to Taki and that was the reason why they had stopped switching places.

Mitsuha shook her head and chalked that thought up to mere paranoia. Whatever had caused their body swapping to start had left just quickly as it had arrived, but the effects it had were resounding. Though they may never again inhabit each other's bodies they would always carry with them the memories of what had happened. An unprecedented and unexplained event that had two people who had never met before suddenly end up switching places and living each others' lives. During that time Taki had helped her and she had helped him. She was no longer teased in school and he was now closer to his crush. A hollow smile came to Mitsuha's face. "I'm happy for them." She muttered under her breath in a tone equally as weak.

"Hey, Mitsuha!" A voice called out. Mitsuha turned and looked behind her, up the hill that she had been walking down without even noticing how much progress she had made. Her two friends Sayaka and Tessie came riding down the hill, both sharing Tessie's bike. The brunette girl was holding onto the bulkier Tessie as he let momentum carry the two of them. They came to a stop beside her and greeted her with friendly smiles.

"Good morning Sayaka, Tessie." Mitsuha greeted them as her thoughts left her. "You seem cheerier than normal today." Mitsuha noticed as her friend Sayaka appeared to be on the edge of bursting with excitement.

"Sure am, you know what's this week right?" Sayaka asked as she leaned over towards Mitsuha, her arms still grabbing onto Tessie's firm shoulders.

"The fall festival right?" Mitsuha assumed.

"Not only that, but it's also when the comet is going to reach its perigee and pass closest to earth!" Sayaka exclaimed. "What a rare once in a lifetime opportunity. You are going aren't you Mitsuha?"

"Yeah."

"Great!" Sayaka departed from her position on the back of Tessie's bike. "We'll all go together then and watch the comet when it passes. It'll be so fun, there will be game and festival foods!"

"It's just gonna be the same fall festival as every year." Tessie was quite blasé about the situation. "But I am looking forward to watching the comet pass." A smile came to his face. "No one's gonna see that again for over a thousand years."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We see the festival every year." Sayaka agreed.

"I'm sure it'll be the same next year again." Mitsuha chimed in. "Nothing ever changes around here." In fact all three of them were tired of their country life. Mitsuha and Sayaka yearned for the active and convenient life of the city. Tessie too was unhappy with his life, being dragged into contract alongside his father without his own say in the matter. However, Tessie was not tired of Itomori like his friends. He could live the rest of his life just fine in the small town if only he were free to choose his own path in life. But it would seem fate had other plans in store for him. Mitsuha could relate, as her duty as a shrine maiden would tie her to Itomori for the rest of her life as well. Both of them were unable to escape their humdrum lives and already knew what would lie ahead for them in the small town. Mitsuha wished for an end to the stagnation, yet she was thankful to have her two close friends. The three of them further discussed their plans for the coming fall festival as they made their way to school that Monday morning.

* * *

Mitsuha sat at her desk in the corner of the room near the back and alongside the windows. She stared longingly out the window and towards Lake Itomori. It was a view that too was unchanging. In fact over the past year the only thing she felt that had really changed was her status among her classmates. That was entirely Taki's doing however, as otherwise she would still be looked down upon by others. Mitsuha lacked the bravery to stand up for herself and she knew it. Taki was different however, he did stand up for her as her. Through him her fellow classmates had begun to respect her while remaining entirely unaware than a boy from Tokyo was the one in control of her body. She was quite grateful to him for that and in turn she helped him as best she could. Mitsuha had used her feminine personality in order to gain the affection of Taki's crush Okudera. Through her the two of them had grown closer and Mitsuha was sure that Okudera was starting to have feelings for Taki as well. She knew they were getting close, and that thought made her feel despondent.

She was not sure why but it brought pain upon her to think about Taki and Okudera getting together. She knew that is what he wanted and he would be happy, yet it had quite the opposite result on her. Mitsuha began to contemplate taking a train one day and going to visit him in Tokyo. While she had used his phone many times she had never bothered to learn his number, nor had she left her number in his phone. She would have no way to contact him and thus her only plan would be to search at the routes and locations she knew him to frequent. If they met it would be either sheer luck or fate. Yet she still wished to go to Tokyo just for a day and see him. She began to wonder if she would be a bother simply showing up unannounced, and what would he think of meeting her in person? Before she could plan her trip out any further her teacher entered the room. The older woman with chin length russet brown hair and similarly colored eyes made her way to the desk in the front of the class. The entire class went through the morning ritual of "stand, bow, sit." before the teacher took her place front and center.

"Good morning everyone, I have some news for you all." Miss Yukino announced to her class. "We have a new student joining us today." Murmurs arose from the students as this bit of information was brought to their attention. Itomori was a small town and it was exceedingly rare for a new student to be added to their class. What made it even more odd was the timing. It was already late in the school year and finals would coming up in the new couple of months. Whoever this new student was they had certainly chosen a poor time to switch schools. "Why don't you come in and introduce yourself?" Miss Yukino turned to the door and cordially invited the new student in. The door to the class slid open once more and the new student entered, making their presence known to the entirety of the class.

At that moment Mitsuha dropped two things. The first was her jaw, as she stared with a stupefied expression. The second was her pencil that slid from between her fingers and clattered faintly onto the floor below. Her eyes were fixated on the familiar boy with short brown hair and sky blue eyes that was now standing in front of the class. "Hello, my name is Tachibana Taki." He introduced himself to the class with unwavering confidence. " I just recently moved from Tokyo. Nice to meet all of you." He bowed respectfully while a few of his new classmates made comments in the excitement of having a student from the city.

"Thank you Tachibana, there's a seat for you over by the windows." Miss Yukino informed him. Mitsuha straightened her composure as she realized that empty seat was directly in front of her. Her brown eyes, still wide with astonishment, were kept locked on Taki as he made his was down the aisle and took his seat directly in front. Taki casually placed his backpack on the floor beside his desk while paying no mind to the girl behind him. Mitsuha's mind may as well have shut down as the utter shock of it all ran its course. Why was Taki now a student in her class? Why had he moved from the city to her small town a few prefectures away?

So many questions ran through her mind as she tried to make sense of her reality. Her dream was now her reality as the boy she had been trading lives with was now sitting in the seat in front of her. He did not once turn back and say hello to her or anything of the sort. Instead Taki focused on the subjects like any other student. Something Mitsuha may as well have been neglecting as her focus was withdrawn. Instead she was trying to think of something, anything to say to Taki. While she paid attention to the lecture as best as she could, she was more fixated on what she would say to Taki when she got the chance.

Eventually the bell rang and the current lesson was cut short as the students were let out for lunch. Familiar faces began to group together and some headed elsewhere to eat lunch. Taki packed up his things, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and departed from the classroom. Mitsuha hurriedly gathered her own things and went after him. Sayaka gave her a confused look as to her Mitsuha was simply rushing out of the classroom. She did not even notice her friend was going after their new student. Once she had passed through the open door Mitsuha looked both ways and caught of glimpse of him turning the corner. She chased after him as fast as she could without making too much of a scene, and she snapped around the corner. She saw him walking down that corridor without another soul in sight and she knew that it was her moment.

"Taki-kun!" She called out his name and he stopped in his tracks. Taki turned and faced her with plain expression as she stood mere feet from him. "It's me!" She introduced herself with a nervous smile that was followed by a short pause. "You do remember me don't you?" She asked anxiously. Taki's own lips curved into a warm and affectionate smile.

"It's nice to finally meet you Mitsuha." He greeted her warmly. Mitsuha's nervousness faded and was quickly replaced with bliss.

"Nice to meet you too Taki-kun." Mitsuha rushed him and pulled him into a longing embrace. Taki was surprised with Mitsuha's forwardness, as was Mitsuha herself. She held onto him for a few brief moments before loosening her grip, though she kept her hands placed on his arms. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be living in Tokyo."

"My father ended up having to move out of the country for awhile, his job is making him take an extended stay." Taki explained. "I decided that since he's going to be away I should find a cheaper place to live. I did some searching and well, here I am." He sounded as if he were being put on trial, though still sincere. "I'm sorry for not saying anything to you earlier, but I didn't want to end up embarrassing us both."

"But aren't you going to miss your friends and Okudera-senpai?" Mitsuha asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I am." He admitted. "But I don't mind that much, i'll be fine." He quickly regained his usual bravado.

"You know you really helped me out more than you might think." Mitsuha admitted as she left go her grip on his and her head lowered. "Ever since you started inhabiting my body things have been far easier on me here. I want to thank you for that, it really means a lot." Her voice sounded weakened but the sincerity was still plain to see. "I was actually wondering how you were doing ever since we stopped switching bodies."

"Actually, I was wondering the same thing." Taki grinned as he reciprocated the feeling. "I was hoping you were doing ok on your own. After all I was the popular one who got love letters from boys and girls." He spuriously bragged, which caused Mitsuha to chuckle.

"You sound like you were having fun with it." Mitsuha commented. "Though I did have fun going to the cafe with your friends."

"Yeah, every time we switched I could count on a new photo of some dessert to appear on my phone." Taki remarked jokingly. "Looking back though those really were fun times, us switching bodies every now and then."

"It was scary at first, but I agree it was nice to see what someone else's life was like and I really enjoyed getting to see the city." Mitsuha admitted. "By the way Taki-kun..." She looked back up at him with a stern expression. "Did you touch my chest?"

Taki recoiled a bit as she caught him off guard with that question. "Wh-what makes you say that?" He asked bashfully as he face turned a shade of crimson.

"Yotsuha said she saw it, and it sounded like it was more than once." Mitsuha told him, keeping her solemn expression. Taki stared back nervously for a few moments before clasping his hands together and bowing.

"I'm sorry." He blurted out his apology as kept that position with his hands together, his back bent, and his head lowered. Mitsuha stood there with her arms crossed and a pouted look upon her face as she considered Taki's apologetic gesture and words.

"I guess I can forgive you." She decided as she remained frowning and her with crossed arms. Taki let out a sigh of relief and he raised head to smile at her. That small gesture melted Mitsuha's composure and warmed her at the core of her being. "Taki-kun, would you like to eat lunch with us?" Mitsuha's invitation was accompanied with a grin, and Taki could sense the tension had faded. "You remember Sayaka and Tessie right? I think I should officially introduce you to them."

"Sure, that sounds great Mitsuha." Taki accepted her proposal and followed her down the hall. The two teenagers both felt a sense of joy and rejuvenation as they were finally united. The unusual circumstance that had joined them had ended. The distance between them was now gone, and from there on out they would both begin to live life beside one another.

* * *

Tessie and Sayaka were already indulging in their lunches under the shade of a tree. It was the same spot where they would gather for lunch every day, yet there was currently only the two of them instead of three. The air outside was warm and still held with it the fading days of summer. Soon fall would arrive and everything would become cool and crisp. The leaves had already begun to change color and few shades of green yet lingered. Come Friday all the students would be required to wear their winter uniforms for the remainder of the year. Yet that group of friends would likely still eat lunch outside in the same spot, weather permitting.

"So how's work going?" Sayaka began a conversation as she and Tessie sat there eating their lunch and waiting on Mitsuha.

"Alright I guess." Tessie told her as he took another bit of his lunch and glanced over at her. "The old man is still teaching me how to use explosives, but besides that it's nothing special."

"Just be careful not to blow your own hand off." Sayaka jested.

"What do you think I am, some kind of moron?" Tessie retorted.

"Geez, I didn't mean it like that." Sayaka pouted.

"Sorry i'm late." Mitsuha apologized as she rendezvoused with her friends.

"It's no problem Mitsu-" Sayaka stopped mid sentence when she noticed that there was another figure following behind Mitsuha. Tessie too looked at their friend curiously.

"I hope you guys don't mind but I invited the new student to eat lunch with us." Mitsuha told them.

"Oh, it's no problem at all." Sayaka responded with a welcoming grin.

"Yeah, you're welcome to eat with us." Tessie invited him.

"Thank you very much." Taki showed his gratitude towards their kindness. Mitsuha sat down on the grass within the shade and Taki let his bag down and sat next to her. He produced a bento from within his backpack while Mitsuha retrieved her own lunch from her bag. The two of them joined their friends for lunch as the group grew in size.

"Tachibana, right?" Tessie asked. "You said you just moved here from Tokyo?" Taki confirmed what he was remembering with a nod. "That certainly sounds like it was exciting."

"I guess, though to be honest i've lived there for so long it never really felt like anything special." Taki admitted.

"Oh don't be so modest." Sayaka told him with earnest in her voice. "Tell us, what was it like in Tokyo? Do you miss it?"

"Well it was always really busy." Taki began. "In fact I don't think the city ever really stopped moving, there was always someone who had to be somewhere. Once you learn the train schedules it's pretty easy to get around though. But the one thing hated about the city was how crowded it was. Out here everything is much more open and I feel like I have room to breathe."

"Really? I mean there's not much to actually do here." Sayaka told him.

"Yeah, city life was certainly more convenient. You could find almost anything in the city, movie theaters, karaoke, managa, and food from anywhere in the world. I actually used to work at an Italian restaurant back in Tokyo." Taki told them.

"Really? What was it like?" Tessie asked.

"Well I worked as waiter, they even had us wear these barista-like uniforms. But it honestly wasn't that bad, even if it got a little hectic sometimes."

"You really didn't mind it?" Mitsuha asked him warily.

"Not at all." Taki replied with a smile.

"Well I guess you must have gotten used to it eventually, but if you ask me you worked way too many hours." Mitsuha told him as if she were a concerned mother. Sayaka and Tessie exchanged glances before looking back at Taki and Mitsuha with suspicion.

"Hold on, do you two know each other?" Tessie conjectured.

Mitsuha appeared nervous as she came to realize her blunder. How on earth was she supposed to explain how she and Taki had met before? Mitsuha knew she could not tell the the truth, or else she was liable to end up in a straitjacket and confined to a mental ward. Mitsuha's mind scrambled to find a quick answer. She looked over to Taki who had a much more calm and collected expression. "Actually, Mitsuha and I were online friends for awhile. I kind of just happened to move to the same town as her." Taki explained to them. Mitsuha breathed a sigh of relief as the anxiety left her.

"Online friends? Seriously" Tessie replied with a wide eyed look of surprise.

"Wow, talk about coincidence." Sayaka commented with enthusiasm. "It must be fate!"

"No, I don't think so. I don't believe in fate or destiny." Taki told her. "I mean sure it is lucky that I just happened to move to the same town as her, but I don't think it was fate. People are free to choose their own futures and take charge of their life. The only ones bound by fate are those that resign themselves to it." There was a brief pause of tension. "Ah, I apologize for rambling."

"Don't worry about it, that's just a man's pride talking." Tessie reassured him.

"Anyway, could I ask to borrow notes from you guys? I have a lot of catching up to do." Taki asked them.

"Sure, you can copy from mine if you want." Mitsuha offered.

"Thanks Mitsuha." Taki showed his gratitude and the two of them exchanged friendly smiles. The group of four continued to eat their lunches and talk under the shade of a tree on that day in the twilight of summer. Taki told them more about his life in Tokyo and his new friends filled him in about Itomori, though it was superficial. Taki already had plenty of experience with the town and could easily find his way around, but he could not let them become aware of that. Time seemed to simply fly by and before they knew it the bell had rung again, signaling for all students to return to their classes. Taki, Mitsuha, Sayaka, and Tessie packed up their things, placed their empty bentos back in the backpacks, and returned to finish their classes.

Classes too seemed to fly by that day. It seemed almost too soon when the bell rang once more, dismissing classes for the day. Miss Yukino promptly reminded her students of their homework assignments before dismissing them. Near instantly students began to rise from their seats and depart from class. Many made haste for the doors to return home as quick as possible. Many others met up with friends and familiar faces they walked home with, while all the rest would stay behind for either club activities or cleaning duties. As Taki packed up his bag and prepared to leave he was approached from behind by Mitsuha. "Taki-kun, would you like to walk home with us?" She offered politely. "Sayaka, Tessie, and I always walk home together and I thought you should join us."

"Sure." Taki answered as she stood up and slung the pack over his shoulder, offering Mitsuha a warm smile. "Thanks for inviting me along with you guys."

"It's no problem." Mitsuha told him as she began to exit the classroom. Taki followed closely behind her, and they found Sayaka and Tessie wating out in the hall a short distance away. Sayaka waved to signal the other two. "It's no problem. I'd like to think they were already your friends too." Mitsuha continued as they made their way down the hall towards Tessie and Sayaka.

"Hey." Tessie greeted them. "You walking home with us Tachibana?" He asked.

"Yeah." Taki nodded. "I hope that's alright."

"It's no problem at all." Tessie reassured him. They headed downstairs and exited the school building. The sun was already beginning to descend and soon the vibrant blue sky would turn shades of orange, yellow, and pink. Droves of students were exiting the building to return home or hang out with their friends for some time. Tessie went and retrieved his bike from the rack before they began to head home. He unlocked the contraption keeping the bike in place and retrieved his bike, keeping it at his side as he walked home along with his three friends.

It was somewhat of a walk from the school back to town. From its place overlooking the lake the school was a short distance away but it was not a quick walk. It would take a few minutes for them just to reach town, not to mention when they would split to their own homes for the evening. The air outside had cooled off slightly since lunch, though it was not much of a noticeable difference. A light breeze passed over before fading and allowing the air to remain still once more.

"So how was your first day?" Mitsuha turned and asked Taki.

"Not too bad, it could have been worse." He replied. "Though it's going to suck having to catch up to everyone else."

"Yeah, you sure picked a poor time to transfer schools." Tessie reminded him with a jesting grin.

"It wasn't really my choice. My dad had to go away for awhile because of work and it's expensive to live in the city." Taki moaned.

"Don't worry, we'll help you catch up Taki-kun." Mitsuha reassured him.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

They soon approached the town of Itomori. Small and humble it sat idly by the lake. Itomori was a small and unassuming place, just a normal small town surrounded by mountains in Japan's Gifu Prefecture. Over five-hundred people called it home and now that number had increased by one. The sky had started to change colors by the time they reached the town. The sun was descending rapidly and soon it would disappeared behind the mountains. One of the downsides of the small town was its short daylight hours that many had simply become accustomed to. Not long after reaching town Taki broke from the group and turned himself to go down a small road on their right.

"I live down this way." He pointed down the street. "So i'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Alright, see you tomorrow!" Sayaka waved goodbye. "It was nice to meet you Tachibana-san."

"Later." Tessie gestured a goodbye with his simpler farewell.

"Hey, you should walk to school with us in the morning too." Mitsuha called out one last invitation to him..

"Got it, tomorrow morning then." Taki shouted his response back as he walked backward, continuing down that road. Mitsuha watched as he turned around and then took another right down another road and disappeared from sight. Sayaka came up on Mitsuha from behind and placed an arm around her shoulder. Sayaka pulled her in close and Mitsuha took notice of her friend's sinister grin.

"Mitsuha, you never told us." Sayaka sounded as if she were some villain who had just cornered the protagonist.

"What do you mean?" Mitsuha asked surprised.

"Oh come on, you like Tachibana-san. I can tell." Sayaka teased and Mitsuha's face turned a bright shade of red.

"Huh, really?" Tessie asked.

"Of course, I can tell this kind of thing with other girls." Sayaka told him. "From the way you were acting around him it was pretty easy to pick up on."

"I-I do not like him!" Mitsuha protested.

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind if someone else asked him out?" Sayaka's super-villain persona seemed to reemerge. Mitsuha gasped in shock and avoided looking her friend in the eye.

"Well... I..." The words she wanted to say escaped her. She was unable to put up a front as the thought of Taki dating another girl brought sorrow to her.

"That's what I thought." Sayaka gloated as she released her grip on Mitsuha. "You should ask him to go to the fall festival with you, Mitsuha. It'd be the perfect first date."

"You think?" Mitsuha asked nervously. "Do you think he'd say yes?"

"I think you should just be honest and tell him how you feel." Tessie injected his own thought. "He'll probably prefer if you're up front with him."

"Ah, what do you know?" Sayaka retorted. "It's not like you've ever had a girlfriend."

"You've never had a boyfriend either." Tessie reminded her with a deadpan tone.

The two of them continued to argue back and forth. Mitsuha shook her head as she watched their childish bickering. Neither of them even noticed when Mitsuha left them and head for home on her own. Quite some time had passed before they even noticed, and the two of them both turned a deep shade of red from the embarrassment of their actions. Nonetheless, Sayka and Tessie both ended up walking home together.

* * *

Taki spat into the sink one final time as he finished brushing his teeth. It was late at night now, and he was ready to tuck himself in for the night. His first day in Itomori had been fairly exciting, meeting with Mitsuha and being officially introduced to her friends. Of course he was already more than familiar with them, but not vice versa. Taki could almost chuckle at the situation... almost. He made his way over to the futon placed against the center of one wall with the door to his room off to the right side of that wall. He got under the sheets and was ready to lie down when he heard a rapping at his window. Taki turned to look and when he saw he stared solemnly at the crow perched just outside his window.


	2. At Twilight

"Goodbye." Mitsuha and Yotsuha simultaneously bid their grandmother farewell as they departed for school. Hitoha stood just inside and waved goodbye to her two grandchildren as they closed the front sliding door.

"See you later onee-chan."Yotsuha took leave of her sister as she headed on her own way to Itomori's primary school. Mitsuha went on alone down the long walk to the high school located just outside of sky was a vibrant placid blue with few patches of white clouds scattered across. The lake was a deeper shade of blue that sparkled as the sun reflected against in. The outside air was noticeably cooler than the day before and carried a crisp character to it. It was now clear that summer had passed, and fall was now upon the small town. Soon the lingering traces of lively greens would change into vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows. Soon people would begin to adorn their lighter jackets and warm beverages would become more favorable.

As Mitsuha made her way towards school she began to regularly check her surroundings for a sign of her friends, Sayaka and Tessie. Normally they would both reach her as Mitsuha descended the hill near her house. It was almost a sort of custom for Tessie to ride down that hill on his bike carrying Sayaka along with him. Yet on that Tuesday morning neither of them had arrived to join Mitsuha in walking to school. When she had reached the edge of town she came to assume that they would not be coming that day. However, she would not be alone.

"Mitsuha!" Taki's voice called out to her. Mitsuha stopped and glanced to her left to see Taki approaching her from the same road he had departed down the day prior. Mitsuha turned to him with a cheerful expression.

"Good morning Taki-kun." She greeted him.

"Where are the others?" He asked as he approached her.

"I don't know, they're usually here by now. Maybe they're not coming today." Mitsuha answered as she and him turned and continued on their way towards school.

"Well if they don't show up then we should bring them whatever work they miss." Taki suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Mitsuha agreed. "By the way Taki-kun, there's a fall festival coming up this Friday, the same day as the comet. So I was wondering, um…" She paused nervously. "Would you like to go together?"

"Sorry, I already have plans for Friday." Taki replied.

"Oh, I see." Mitsuha sounded disheartened.

"But if it's possible, I'll try to be there to watch the comet with you alright?" He compromised.

"Really?" Her demeanor began to sparkle once more.

"Yeah, if I can make it then we can watch the comet together." He confirmed.

"Alright, you had better try to make it then." She instructed him. "Because I'll be looking forward to it."

"I'll try, no promises though." He cautioned her.

* * *

Taki and Mitsuha arrived at school together after the short hike there. Many other students too had begun to arrive and crowd the school. The duo made their way through the halls and up to their classroom on the second floor. They took their respective seats and continued to chat and enjoy the company of one another. Their friends Tessie and Sayaka showed up mere minutes before class would begin. Sayaka ashamedly admitted that she was running late and Tessie was kind enough to wait for her. Miss Yukino then promptly entered the room and initiated the morning ritual before class began.

The morning continued quite ordinarily without any real excitement. Miss Yukino carried on with the first few subjects of the morning as the early day dreariness still lingered about. The only two sounds in the classroom were Miss Yukino's voice as she gave her lectures, and the chalk striking the blackboard as she wrote upon it. Occasionally there came the voice of a student who was called upon to answer a question, yet this was a rare occasion. The day progressed in its listless routine until sometime in the early afternoon.

It was at that time that they were dismissed for gym. The students headed for the locker rooms where they then would then change into their gym clothes. As Mitsuha made her way down the hall she felt a grasp on her one shoulder that held her back. She turned to see her friend Sayaka clutching onto her with Tessie standing right next to Sayaka. "Hang on a second Mitsuha." Sayaka instructed her. "You walked to school with Tachibana-san thanks to my master plan, right?"

"Yeah, we… wait, master plan?" Mitsuha sounded confused.

"That's right! I purposefully came late with Tessie to give you two some time alone so you could ask him out." Sayaka seemed to relish in her own scheme. "So what happened, what did he say?"

"He said that he has plans Friday, but that he's going to at least try to watch the comet with me if he can." Mitsuha revealed rather solemnly.

"Aww, really? That sucks." Sayaka's voice too carried with it an accent of disappointment. "So now what?"

"I still say you should just tell him how you feel." Tessie rehashed his own opinion.

"You think so?" Mitsuha inquired.

"Yeah, just be honest with him and with your feelings. I'm positive he'll appreciate that."

"I suppose it's worth a shot." Sayaka agreed with a pout.

"Then I guess I could give it a shot." Mitsuha decided. "I just need to get some time alone with Taki-kun again."

"Don't you worry about that, Tessie and I are more than willing to help." Sayaka gave her a thumbs up to go along with her own confident look. They continued on to the locker rooms before proceeding to gym class. Gym was held outside that day that and the cool air outside was a benefit to the students. They were broken up into a to groups, with one group running laps while the other were instructed to complete sets of a certain exercise such as push-ups or sit-ups, one after the other. The two groups eventually switched places and went on to perform the other activity. It was mundane much like the classroom, yet more engaging for the students.

There came a point during gym where Taki and Mitsuha both ended up taking a water break around the same time. They sat together under the shade of a tree, much like when they ate lunch but under a different tree. The air outside was already chilled enough to cool them off, thus the shade did not provide much relief. Taki took a swig from his bottle of water. Mitsuha sat next to him in silence, her knees pressed against her body. An awkward silence weighed heavily in the air between them. Taki offered his plastic bottle of water to her. "Here, you want some?" He asked.

"Sure, thanks." Mitsuha took the bottle from his hands and drank from it. "It's pretty cool out today." She attempted to break the silence only to mentally berate herself for going for something so cliché.

"Yeah, I guess fall has finally arrived." Taki didn't seem to think the same as her. "It sure was a hell of a summer though." He joked.

"You can say that again." Mitsuha chuckled along. "Speaking of that, there's something I've been wanting to tell you." Mitsuha could feel the knot tightening in her stomach as nerves began to wind. "It's just that-"

"Hey you two, get back to it!" Their gym teacher shouted over to them.

"Alrght!" Taki shouted back as he stood up. "Let's finish this conversation later Mitsuha." He quickly departed from her and returned to their group. Mitsuha reached out to him and tried to speak yet the words she had wanted to say escaped her. She simply retracted her arm and stood up before returning to her group. She did not notice that her two friends had just witnessed the entire event unfold.

"Aww man, she was so close." Sayaka complained as she behind another tree.

"You know we should probably get back before we get caught." Tessie reminded her of the ongoing class.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sayaka reluctantly agreed. "Besides, I already have a plan to get those two alone." She gave a confident smirk and Tessie let out a displeased sigh.

* * *

Eventually the end of the school day came once more. The bell rang and signaled that the students were free to return home. They quickly gathered their things as they yearned for that sweet freedom. They began to quickly vacate the school and head home until they would have to return the next day and repeat the whole thing all over again. Just as Taki had placed the last of his things in his backpack he was approached by Sayaka.

"Pardon me Tachibana-san, but could I ask for a favor?" Her voice wavered as she inquired with a wide abashed grin. "Mitsuha and I have clean up duty today, but I kind of have plans and need to get home quickly. Would you be willing to trade cleaning duties? I promise I'll cover your shirt next time."

"Geez, first you show up late then you want me to leave early too?" Taki griped. "But fine, I'll do it."

"Thank you Tachibana-san." Sayaka bowed as a gesture of her gratitude. She strolled out of the classroom as Mitsuha watched in confusion. She was not aware of any prior engagements that Sayaka needed to be off to. As she exited the classroom Sayaka turned and looked back one last time, giving Mitsuha a wink and a sly grin. Mitsuha looked shocked as she was hit with the realization that this was another one of Sayaka's plans, and with that Sayaka took her leave as the last few students exited the classroom.

Taki and Mitsuha were alone once more and she realized that another opportunity had been set up for her. Mitsuha felt her stomach begin to knot once more. "Well, let's get to it then." Taki decided as he turned to her. "I'll clean the windows if you want to sweep the floor."

"Alright." Mitsuha nodded in agreement and stood up from her desk. Taki went and retrieved the spray for cleaning the windows along with a rage from a locker in the back of the room while Mitsuha went and grabbed the broom nearby Taki. She began around the door while he went over to the corner where she sat and sprayed the first window, then tracing circles with the cloth.

"Sorry Sayaka made you stay and do this." Mitsuha apologized on her friend's behalf.

"Don't worry about, I don't mind." Taki told her as he finished with the first window. "Besides, I like getting to spend time with you."

"I enjoy spending time with you too Taki-kun." Mitsuha reciprocated the feeling. She continued to sweep down the aisle, making her way from the doorway to the blackboard. "To be honest, I'm actually really glad you moved here, that I got to meet you, and that you're going to school with me now. It's certainly already made things in this town better."

"I'm glad we're going to school together too." Taki replied. "It's nice that after spending so much time apart we now get to see each other every day." He moved onto the next window. "But I don't think Itomori is all that bad."

"Easy for you to say, you just moved here." Mitsuha responded cynically. "You'll see soon enough that there's nothing exciting in this little town in the middle of nowhere, just a small little town with the same thing day after day."

"Well look at it this way." Taki turned around to face her. "Next year we'll have to deal with entrance exams, and if you do well on those you can go to a good college somewhere like Tokyo."

"No." Mitsuha's voice was low and she began to slow down the pace on her sweeping. "The Miyamizu family has always taken care of the shrine in Itomori. If I were to leave then I would be letting down my grandmother… and my mother." He voice wavered when mentioning her mother. "I have a duty to stay here along with my grandmother and my sister in order to take care of the family shrine. So I'm stuck here, whether I like it or not I'm probably going to spend the rest of my life out here in the boonies."

There was a somber quiet that loomed in the air between them. Taki's pensive gazed remained fixed on Mitsuha, who stood in between the rows of desks, her head hung meekly as she did not meet his gaze. Taki turned back to the windows and resumed his duty.

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to stay here with you." Taki told her.

"Eh?" Mitsuha turned about quickly and gave him a look of shock. "What do you mean?"

"Well if you can't leave Itomori then I won't leave either." He clarified. "I'll just have to find a job here right after we finish high school. I could probably convince Tessie to help me get a job working construction."

"Are you sure about that?" Her voice was ripe with concern. "Don't you think you'd be wasting your potential? You could at least go to a good college."

"Yeah, but then I'd have to leave you again." He replied as he moved onto to clean the next window. "We already had to spend time apart, and I don't want us to be apart again." There was a brief silence as Mitsuha found herself quite astonished by Taki's words.

"I also don't want you to leave." She admitted timidly. Mitsuha continued her duties and returned to sweeping the floors. The two of them diligently returned to their cleaning duties without saying another word to each other. As Taki remained fixated on cleaning the classroom windows he failed to notice the small immutable smile across Mitsuha's face. Their classroom chores seemed to fly by as if fleeting so long as they remained in the company of one another.

The sun was already low in the sky when they left the school. It hovered just above the mountain line and painted the sky vibrant shades of orange and yellow. Most of the other students had already returned home, though Taki and Mitsuha seemed to have worked quick enough to leave before most of the clubs had let out. They departed on the lengthy path home side by side and alone together yet again.

"Well that went by quicker than expected." Taki commented.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be dark before we were done." Mitsuha replied. "Unfortunately thee daylight hours are pretty short here in Itomori."

"Ah well, I don't mind. Beside, I'm going straight home to try and catch up on my work. Which reminds me…" He turned his head to her. "I'm actually having some trouble with this pile of school work I need to catch up on. Do you maybe… want to come over to my place tomorrow and help me out?"

"Well, you said your dad is away for work right?" Mitsuha asked nervously. "Doesn't that mean you and I will be there alone?"

"Yeah, I hope that's alright." His reply was quite nonchalant. "We've already been alone together a few times today so I thought it wouldn't really matter. Besides, I really could use the help."

Mitsuha realized he was right and they had spent quite some time alone that day. She had rapidly become self-aware of her behavior. "Alright then, I would be glad to help you Taki-kun." She answered him with a warm smile.

"Thanks." He reciprocated with a smile of his own. "You can come over right after school, we'll just both head to my place instead."

By then they were approaching the town and their walk home would soon come to an end. It was even cooler than when they had left in the morning, and soon the warming glow of the sun would disappear altogether. Taki glanced over to his right, away from Mitsuha and towards the lake. "Wow." He stopped in his tracks and turned towards the lake. Mitsuha took notice and she too glanced over the scene before them. The sun was now sinking behind the mountain lines and soon would disappear from sight. The bright orange glow glistened of the surface of the water which too became saturated with the colors of the sky. It was a massive glistening mirror that reflected the image of the fading sun. "The lake looks gorgeous at this time of day." He commented on the twilight view.

"Yeah." Was all Mitsuha could reply as she felt her eyes begin to water. "You know, I never really noticed until now. I guess I just got too used to seeing it every day." She walked over beside him.

"See, there are still some things you might like about Itomori."

Mitsuha shook her head. "It's not really the sight that I'm enjoying right now. It's because you're here." Taki turned and looked at her with surprise.

"Mitsuha?" She could feel the knot begin to twist in her stomach again as he spoke her name. Yet she was determined, and she would get through it.

"I'm really happy that I get to spend time with you like this Taki-kun." She admitted, her voice soft and low and her lips curved into a small grin. "The fact that you are now a part of my life has really made everything better."

"Ah, you're giving me too much credit." He responded bashfully.

Mitsuha shook her head. "Ever since you've been a part of my life you've always helped make it better. First it was when we were switching bodies, I already told you how much of a help you were with my school life. I wanted to meet you so bad, and then one day you just show up out of the blue and are in my class. Just you being here really brings me happiness."

"Mitsuha." Taki looked as if he had the wind knocked out of him. He fell silent for but a few brief moments. "I'm also really glad we got to meet, and that you're a part of my life now too."

"Taki-kun…" She turned to him with tears starting to form in her eyes and she small grin now a wide smile. "I love you!" Taki stared back at her with a serious expression as she confessed her true feelings. A tender smile came to his face as well.

"Mitsuha, I love you too." He reciprocated her feelings. Mitsuha wiped a tear from her eye as she felt the happiness beginning to flood her. She was completely overwhelmed, such a feeling was not one she had ever experience before in her life. She had no idea how to describe it, but she knew that she wanted the feeling captured at that moment to last for an eternity. The sun had now finally settled below the mountain and twilight had come. The final rays of light still lingered among the horizon while the rest of the sky was an inky black, illuminated by countless stars. Small spots of light piercing the black endless unknown, they shined so bright as to reach them from all across the cosmos. At that moment Taki and Mitsuha took each other by the hand as their emotions overtook them. They both leaned forward and met each other's lips; finally fully embracing one another and finding their place in the world together.


	3. Cracks Appear

Miyamizu Hitoha stepped into the dining room that Wednesday morning to find her eldest granddaughter Mitsuha was already awake and making breakfast. Hitoha looked surprised to see Mitsuha, who was usually a late sleeper, already up and active no less. "You're up earlier than usual." She commented, grabbing the attention of her granddaughter.

"Good morning oba-chan." Mitsuha cheerily greeted her grandmother. Hitoha was again surprised to see Mitsuha's unusually chipper mood. A couple days earlier it was apparent something was troubling the young girl. Today however, it was almost as if she were an entirely different person again. Hitoha made her way to the table and sat on a cushion, joining Yotsuha who had already been sitting there with her handheld game console. "You seems like you're in a good mood." Hitoha remarked.

"She's been like this all morning." Yotsuha replied. "I have no idea what's gotten into her."

"Well I'm glad to see you're so happy." Hitoha bolstered her granddaughter's mood with a smile. Mitsuha approached the table carrying a tray of the food she had made. She placed the tray down in the center of the table, and the scent of grilled salmon, steamed rice, and pickled vegetables filled the air. The television behind them continued to play and provide background noise. Mitsuha took a seat across from her grandmother before.

"Itadakimasu!" Yotusha exclaimed before they began their meal, each helping themselves to generous portions.

"By the way, I'm going to a friend's house after school to help them study so I won't be home until tonight." Mitsuha informed her sister and grandmother.

"Oh, is it Natori-san or Teshigawara-san?" Her grandmother asked.

"Actually, it's neither of them." Mitsuha began to appear nervous as she admitted the truth. "There's this new student who just transferred to our class, and well I agreed to help him catch up with his work." Yotsuha and Hitoha both stared at her with mild confusion.

"So you're going to a boy's house after school?" Yotusha asked to clarify. "Well that explains the way she's been acting."

"Ah, well… I mean I am but I'm just helping him study." She admitted bashfully.

"That's fine dear." Hitoha allowed. "Just don't be out too late."

"I won't." Mitsuha promised with a grin of relief. They continued their breakfast and before long the two sisters were on their way out, headed for school. They both bid their grandmother farewell before departing for school. It was even cooler outside than the day prior, and both girls wore jackets to school for the first time of that fall season. Mitsuha was dressed in a light zip-up jacket with a pattern of pink and light purple stripes. She and Yotusha said their goodbyes to one another before separating and heading to different schools.

Mitsuha headed down the familiar hill on the path she walked to school. It was a familiar sight most days, but today was an exception. Standing there at the foot of the hill was Taki, wearing a black hooded jacket with patches of grey on the arms, over his school uniform. His sky blue eyes gleamed as he greeted her with a smile and a wave. Mitsuha smiled back at him warmly. "Good morning Taki-kun." She greeted him.

"Good morning Mitsuha." He replied quite jovially as she approached. "I got up earlier so I could come and meet you on the way to school today."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." Mitsuha told him. "But, thank you."

"It's no problem. Besides, I wanted to do this."

Mitusha was now beside him and she felt him brush her hand. She glanced down to see his hand open and waiting to receive hers. She then glanced up at him and she could practically feel his smile begin to melt her. She took his hand and their fingers intertwined as both Taki and Mitsuha smiled at one another. They proceeded to walk together as they felt the warmth of each other's hand contrast the cool air. Both of them were silent as they headed onward, simply enjoying the other's company and the simple gesture of their newfound relationship.

"Hey you guys!" Sayaka's voice cut through the silence. Taki and Mitsuha stopped and turned their heads to look back as the sound of a bike chain drew ever closer. Tessie pulled on the brakes to his bike and came to a stop just beside Taki and Mitsuha. "Are you two holding hands? Does that mean you're going out? Come on, give me the details!" Her questions seemed to fire out of her as if she were a machine gun.

"Y-yeah, I asked him out yesterday after school and he said yes." Mitsuha managed to answer after being thrown off by Sayaka's rapid questioning.

"Good for you guys." Tessie congratulated them.

"Yeah, nice to see it all worked out." Sayaka agreed as she dismounted Tessie's bike. "Hey, after school how about we all go to our spot at the little café we made? Tachibana hasn't seen it yet has he?" She suggested as they pressed onward towards school.

"You made a café?" Taki asked and Mitsuha had to hold back her laughter at the irony of the situation. After all, he was the one who had planned the whole thing and helped built their spot.

"Well it's not really a café, we sort of just built a wooden table by a vending machine." Sayaka admitted bashfully.

"Sorry Sayaka, but Taki-kun already invited me to his house after school to help him catch up with his studying." Mitsuha replied.

"Oh, you're going to meet his parents already?" Sayaka asked.

"Actually, the truth is I usually live with my dad, but he's on an extended stay in another country for work. So currently I live alone." Taki informed her.

Tessie and Sayaka suddenly began to look concerned. "Wait, so you're both going to be alone at his house?" She reiterated.

"Don't you think you might be moving a little fast for that?" Tessie asked.

"You're not implying what I think you're implying are you?" Mitsuha questioned him with a scowl.

"Well you are two are a couple of teenage kids who just hooked up, and now you're going to be all alone at his house for a few hours. What am I supposed to think?" He responded with a smirk.

"It's not like that!" Taki quickly retorted. "I asked her to help me study, and that's it."

Sayaka giggled. "You two really are cute." She teased, causing her two friends two blush. "By the way, we should probably head this way to school." She had pointed down the street which Taki had always gone down after school. "Your dad is doing a campaign speech on our usual path again. I don't think you want him to see you holding hands with your boyfriend."

"Agreed, thanks for the warning." Mitsuha responded as their group turned and took a longer path to school.

"I guess you can tell this already Tachibana, but Mitsuha doesn't exactly get along with her dad." Sayaka told him.

"Yeah, I kind of got that." He replied with a nervous grin. In fact he had already known that long ago, yet again they were both entirely unaware of the situation. Taki knew for sure there were still plenty of things he had yet to "learn" about Mitsuha and Itomori.

Despite taking a voluntary detour, they still arrived at school in good time. Once they were on the premise Mitsuha released Taki's hand and told him she did not want them to be seen by the other students. After all, it was he who had worked so hard to end the harassment she had been receiving in school. Taki understood and they walked to class appearing as a normal group of friends.

The school proceeded like any other. The students went through the morning ritual and Miss Yukino lectured them on their few courses before lunch. Their group ate under the same tree as always with Taki and Mitsuha sitting noticeably closer, though it was only by their two friends. The bell rang and they headed off the gym class for a period before returning to the classroom. Miss Yukino finished the final courses for the day just as any other day.

Eventually the sound of the bell came and released the student from their confinement. Miss Yukino reminded her class of their homework assignments before they began to stand up and depart in droves. Taki and Mitsuha left together, joining their friends Tessie and Sayaka out in the hall. They made a quick stop at the bike rake just outside the school so Tessie could grab his bike before they headed home. They headed back towards town as the sun began to sink in the painted sky. Eventually they reached the point where Taki had to depart and head on towards his house with Mitsuha tagging along that day. The two of them waved goodbye to their friends before departing. Tessie offered Sayaka and ride home and she joined him on the bike. He began pedaling and heading off to her house to drop her off.

Taki led Mitsuha down that street and onto the road it connected which Taki's house was located. He led her to a small unassuming home with a decent view of the lake. It was a rather undersized gray building that seemed more like an exaggerated room than an actual house. However, considering it had only one occupant it served its purpose well. Taki unlocked the front door to the house and flicked the lights on. Mitsuha stepped followed him inside as he took off his shoes. She followed suit and entered Taki's house.

They entered into main room of the house, which was a combination of the kitchen and a main living room. There was a square table placed in the center of the living room, and across from that was a tiny kitchen area. A single row of cabinets with an electric stove, standard white refrigerator, and a microwave placed in a location made for it in the upper cabinets. The walls were painted a shade of forest green and the entire space had a finished dark wooden floor.

"Come on in, make yourself at home." Taki invited her.

As she entered his home Mitsuha looked to her right towards the low traditional dining table and kitchen. There was a room in the corner next to the kitchen towards the front of the house. A wall extended pas the kitchen and then extended down towards the front side of the house. There were two doors on this wall, presumably a bedroom and a bathroom. Mitsuha made her way to the table and sat down on a cushion, placing her bag beside her. Taki took a seat next to her and placed his backpack on the table.

"Thanks for coming over to do this." Taki showed his gratitude.

"It's no problem." Mitsuha responded cheerfully. "So what subjects did you need help with?"

"Well I was ahead of your class with math, so I'm fine there. The other subjects not so much." He opened his bag and reached inside. "I've been managing to catch up with Japanese History, but you guys are on an entirely different part of literature. So I need the most help there."

"Oh, we just started doing ancient literature. Yukino-sensei says it's going to be the last section of the course." Mitsuha rummaged around in her own bag for the corresponding materials. "We're starting all the way at the beginning with The Epic of Gilgamesh." She placed on the table one small hardcover grey book. Both the front and the back were entirely blank, and the title instead rested on the side of the binding. "You have this book, right?"

"Yeah." Taki replied.

He grabbed the same book and pushed his other class materials aside. They both opened their books and flipped through the first few introduction pages until they reached the first page of the story.

"Yukino-sensei told us this is believed to be the oldest known work of literature." Mitsuha began. "So far we're about halfway done with it. The story begins by telling how the gods created Gilgamesh, whom they gave strength, beauty, and courage, and made him two-thirds man and one-third god. He created the city of Uruk and ruled over its people. But Gilgamesh was a tyrannical leader, and the people of Uruk prayed to the gods. The goddess Aruru created Enkidu, one to rival Gilgamesh, from a piece of clay. Enkidu roamed the hills as a wild man until he was taken in by a young trapper and his father. The two men brought a harlot back from the city of Uruk to show Enkidu the embrace of a woman."

She failed to notice his face turning red.

"Enkidu became civilized and headed for Uruk to challenge Gilgamesh and declare himself the strongest. Gilgamesh had dreams foretelling of this encounter and before long the two had their fated duel. It was a fierce battle, but in the end Gilgamesh proved himself the stronger of the two. After his defeat, Enkidu acknowledged Gilgamesh's strength and the two become friends."

"So they met after Gilgamesh had a dream about him?" Taki asked. "Now why does that sound so familiar?" He grinned and Mitsuha chuckled.

"So after they become friends Gilgamesh decides he must do something worthy of having his name remembered for all time. He decided the two of them should venture to the Cedar Forest and slay the monstrous giant Humbaba. Gilgamesh seeks advice from his mother, the wise goddess Ninsun. Ninsun appeals to the god Shamash to protect them on their quest, and she adopts Enkidu as her son. Gilgamesh sees his people off and they depart on their journey to the Cedar Forest. Gilgamesh has terrible dreams of chaos and destruction which worry him. Enkidu manages to encourage him and they reach their destination. Gilgamesh cuts down one of the cedar trees and attracts the attention of Humbaba. They are both frightened by him, but with a few words of encouragement they take him on. With the aid of Shamash they are able to restrain and defeat Humbaba. He pleads with Gilgamesh to spare his life, but Enkidu warns that Humbaba is lying. Gilgamesh kills Humbaba, and they cut down many of the trees to bring the lumber back to Uruk."

Mitsuha let out a sigh once she was finished. "That's pretty much what we've covered up until now."

"Wow that sounds like a lot for such a small book." Taki commented.

"Yeah, I think it's pretty interesting how old this story is." Mitsuha responded. "Anyway, you should also have the questions to go along with the book." She rummaged through her things once more and produced a one-sided sheet of corresponding questions.

"Yeah, I have it." Taki went through his own belongings and retrieved the same sheet. Mitsuha began to go through the questions with him, explaining them to him one by one and sharing her own answers. She made sure to explain each and every question to him, yet still allowed him to copy her answers just to help him get his work done faster. As they studied diligently they made small talk about the subject, about the school, and how it compared to the one in Tokyo.

While in each other's company time seemed to slip away so easily. Hours had seemed to pass by quicker than they had realized, and the moon had already risen above the mountains to reflect the sun. Mitsuha had managed to help Taki catch up with his literature work, yet they had spent too much time making idle chat and ended up procrastinating.

"Thanks for the help Mitsuha." Taki thanked her as he put his school materials away in his backpack. "Sorry that took so long, is your grandmother expecting you home soon?"

"I only told her I'd be home tonight." She answered. "I think as long as it's a reasonable time she won't mind."

"Alright then, how about I make dinner for us?" He offered.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden."

"Don't worry, it's the least I can do to thank you." He cheerfully reassured her. "In fact since I'm ahead of you in math how about next time I help you with your math?"

Mitsuha smiled blissfully. "You really are too kind Taki-kun." Taki made his way to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"How does sukiyaki sound?" He asked from the kitchen.

"Whatever you make is fine by me." She replied.

"Then could you do me a favor Mitsuha?" Taki asked as he went into his cupboards and began to search for the cookware he needed. "Could you take my bag into my room?"

"Of course." Mitsuha grabbed his bag and picked it up. "You don't mind if I go in your room?"

"Not at all." He answered as he placed a pan on the stove. "It's the door on the right." Mitusha made her way across the room and headed towards the bedroom. She opened the door to his room and stepped inside. The walls of Taki's room were painted to match the main living room. There was a dresser in front of Mitsuha and to her left as she entered the room. To her right Taki had a futon still on the floor and pressed against the wall behind her. His sheets were a mess and it appeared that he had no intention of making it after he had gotten up. She had known him to be rather organized, yet the state of his futon seemed to dissent from that. In the far corner opposite the door there was desk with a gray lamp. There rested Taki's laptop, a small cup like container of pencils, and Taki's notebook.

The air in the room was ripe with the scent of teenage boy, yet Mitsuha did not seem to mind. Perhaps it was because to her it smelled just like Taki. When she was in his body she quickly became used to it, and now as herself she began to enjoy it. She placed his things down beside his dresser, right between it and the sliding door to his closet. She took another look around the room, shocked by the contrast between his current room and the one he had in Tokyo. As she began to leave something caught her eye.

She glanced down at his dresser and the items placed across the top. There were a few items scattered across it, a phone charger, an old mp3 player that seemed outdated, a small clock, and a small closed black box. But one thing tucked away in the back corner caught her attention. It was a braided cord. Red around each end and closer to the middle it became orange and yellow. In the center there was a white stripe surrounded by a light blue stripe on either side. It was exactly identical to the one she wore in her hair. Mitsuha picked up the cord and gave it a quizzical look.

Something felt entirely off to her. The very existence of the cord now in her hands seemed to shake her, yet she hadn't the faintest idea why. She placed it back where she found it and decided to question its owner. Mitsuha exited Taki's room and could hear the click as the burner turned on. She walked towards the kitchen, and he noticed her as she came around the corner.

"Thanks for that." He expressed his gratitude while remaining focused on preparing dinner. He poured in a light layer of sesame oil into the skillet placed on the stovetop.

"Taki-kun, can I ask you something?" Mitsuha inquired.

"Sure, what is it?"

"When I was in your room I noticed you had a braided cord on your dresser. One that looks exactly like the one I have." She pointed to the cord holding up her unique hairstyle. "Where did you get that?"

"Ah." He sounded relaxed but his body tensed. "I got that at a festival three years ago. Honestly I just thought it looked cool at the time. It's just a coincidence they look alike." He turned and gave her a reassuring and ineffective smile. Mitsuha frowned as she saw through the pretense. Yet she decided not to press a trivial matter any farther.

"It must be." She replied plainly as she returned to her seat. "Do you need any help with dinner?" She offered from across the room.

"No, I got it." He answered as he placed thin slices of beef in the pan to fry. "It won't be that much longer."

Mitsuha waited patiently as Taki fried the beef, made the sauce for the sukiyaki, and cooked the vegetables in the sauce. Once everything was just about ready he grabbed an electric warmer from one of his upper cabinets and brought it to the table. He plugged it in and asked Mitsuha to turn it on. She obliged as he returned to his food and finished preparing everything. He placed all of the ingredients in one large pot, placing the beef in the center, surrounded by the vegetables, tofu, noodles, and bathed in the sukiyaki sauce.

Once it was ready he brought the pot over to the table and placed it on the warmer, returning to kitchen one final time to grab plates and chopsticks for the both of them. He handed Mitsuha a plate with a set of chopsticks.

"Thanks for make dinner for us." She showed her appreciation. "It smells delicious Taki-kun."

"It's not a problem." He replied kindly. "Also, you don't have to use honorifics with me." She looked at him with a surprised expression. "I mean I feel like we're close enough now that we don't need them, plus I never call you Mitsuha-chan. I don't mind if you keep calling me Taki-kun, but you don't have to."

"Alright then, thank you Taki." Mitsuha smiled and began to blush.

"Itadakimasu!" They both cheered before digging in and enjoying their first meal together.

Mitsuha strode to school quite joyfully the following day. Her grin was wide and her demeanor shined brightly. Spending time after school with Taki and having dinner with him had elated her mood. She carried that joy with her as she walked to school once more.

"Mitsuha!" She heard Sayaka call out alongside the familiar sound of a bike chain. Mitsuha stopped and waited as Tessie pulled up on his bike with Sayaka riding along. "You look like you're in a good mood today." Sayaka observed. "How did it go with Tachibana last night?"

"It went fine. I helped him with his homework and he made dinner." Mitsuha informed her friend as they continued to walk together. Sayaka had dismounted Tessie's bike, which he now walked alongside of.

"Aw, you two are such acute couple." Sayaka fawned.

"We're not that cute!" An abashed Mitsuha cried out. She turned away from her friend and looked down that road only to find it empty. Mitsuha stopped in her tracks and stared down the road leading to Taki's house. While normally he would at least be walking down that road today was quite different.

"Hey, is Tachibana not coming to school today?" Tessie asked.

"He never said anything about not coming today." Mitsuha replied. "Maybe he's just running late."

"Well then should we wait for him?" Sayaka asked.

Mitsuha pondered for a moment. "No, if he's running late then he should still make it to class. If he doesn't come today then we'll bring him the work he misses." She decided. Sayaka and Tessie could agree with that, and thus they headed in a group of three that day.

Once they were in class they waited, and yet Taki did not come. Miss Yukino entered the classroom and begun their school day with the morning ritual of "Stand, bow, sit." She began the class with a single absentee and the morning continued on as expected. She lectured the students who in turn took notes diligently.

It was around noon, in the middle of her lesson on Japanese history, when Taki finally arrived. The back door slid open and Miss Yukino fell silent. The entirety of the classes attention was drawn to the back as the tardy student arrived. "Ah, arriving fashionably late Tachibana-san?" Miss Yukino asked, prompting laughter from the rest of the class save for his three friends.

"I'm sorry sensei, my phone died in the middle of the night and my alarm never went off." Taki explained. "It won't happen again." He bowed apologetically.

"Maybe invest in a charger next time." She joked as he took his seat in front of Mitsuha. She continued her lecture for the next half hour, until the bell rang and dismissed the students for lunch. "Tachibana-san, I would like you to stay behind so I may have a word with you." Miss Yukino instructed him. Taki let out a sigh as he knew what was about to come. Mitsuha told him that they'd be waiting for him at their usual spot before she headed out to lunch.

Several minutes had passed when Taki finally joined his friends for lunch. He approached with a stern expression and headed for his usual seat near Mitsuha. "Sorry for making you guys wait." He apologized as he sat down, his voice lower than usual.

"It's not a problem." Sayaka attempted to cheer him up. "I guess Yukino-sensei must have given you quite a stern talking to."

"Yeah, today is not my day. But I've had worse." He replied.

"Well I hope your day gets better Taki." Mitsuha tried to encourage him. "Did you bring a lunch? If not I can share mine with you."

"No, I remembered to do that at least." He told her as he reached into his backpack and retrieved his bento.

"Oh, not using honorifics anymore?" Sayaka teased.

"Well Taki said it was alright." Mitsuha replied sheepishly.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal. I've never called her Mitsuha-san or Mitsuha-chan." Taki reminded her a bit steely.

"Well that's true." Tessie remarked as he dug into his lunch. Mitsuha found herself fixated on Taki, not out of her usually attraction but because again she knew he was off. Whereas he was normally engaged with her, instead she could feel the distance between them. Taki's demeanor felt icier in contrast with his normally warm and embracing self. It worried her greatly. Surely having one bad day would not be enough to throw him off this much.

Tessie and Sayaka continued to strike up conversation with one another, and yet Taki and Mitsuha, who were actually dating, remained rather silent. Mitsuha attempted to ask about coming over for another study session, but he simply told her he would have to see. She did not press the issue any farther and instead listened to her two friends make idle chat. The one other thing that put her off was how Taki kept checking his phone. She had begun to feel that during lunch he was paying more attention to it during their lunch.

They returned to class and Mitsuha attempted to focus on her school work, trying to forget about their unusually quiet lunch. Try as she might though her focus often wandered back to the boy in front of her. She would glance at him as he paid attention to their session on ancient literature, diligently listening as Miss Yukino went over The Epic of Gilgamesh. She too paid attention as their teacher recited the part of the story where the angered gods marked Enkidu for death, and how Gilgamesh was distraught at the death of his closest comrade. Yet Mitsuha still remained vigilant in regards to Taki.

She took notice during math when he seemed to tactically stop paying attention during math. Every time their teacher would look away or write on the chalkboard he would seem to doze off or lose focus. Mitusha quickly became concerned with him and waited for their teacher to turn away once more. Once Miss Yukino began writing the final question on the board Taki seemed to stare out the window. Mitsuha leaned forward and poked him in the back with the eraser on her pencil.

"Taki, you should pay attention." She whispered to him. "What if Yukino-sensei calls on you to answer one of the questions? You don't want her to get even more upset with you."

"The answers are 56, 27, and X equals 42, Y equals 12." He replied dully.

Mitsuha stared down the three equations she had copied from the board. She began to plug in the numbers and founds that Taki was right. Even though their teacher had just finished writing down the last equation, Taki had already solved every single problem and gotten them right. Mitsuha was shocked that he could solve them so quickly, despite it appearing that he was not paying any attention. She simply chalked it up to him being ahead of the rest of the class in math, and perhaps he had been given the same questions at some point. She copied down the answers he had given her and simply waited until their teacher moved on with the lesson.

Taki continued to lose focus throughout the remainder of the day while Mitsuha remained worried about him. Eventually the final bell rang once more and the students were dismissed from class. Mistuha had quickly packed up her things and approached Taki.

"Taki, is something wrong?" She asked and grabbed his attention. "You've been acting strangely all day. In fact I've been feeling that you're rather distant. Is something bothering you?"

Taki gave a brief pause before smiling back at her. "Don't worry Mitusha, I'm fine." He reassured her before standing up from his desk. "I'm always going be here for you, no matter what. Anyway, I have to do some shopping today before it gets dark so I'm heading out on my own." He began to walk past her and head for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow." He gestured a farewell with his back still turned.

"Bye." She replied, her voice low and weak. Mitsuha let out a sigh as she knew she could not reach him yet again. She turned back to his now empty seat and saw his phone lying on his desk. Taki must have pulled it out sometime during class and forgotten about it. Mitsuha knew she could leave it, either he would find it there or Miss Yukino would take it. But Mitsuha knew how organized Taki was, and if there was anything he was hiding from her it was sure to be on that phone. Thus, she picked it up and slipped it in her bag before heading for home.

Thoughts of her day had clouded her mind, and she found herself lying awake on her futon that night. Something was bothering Taki, to her that was clear. Yet she hadn't the faintest idea what was bothering him. Surely arriving late and getting lectured by Miss Yukino was not enough to put him in such a dour mood. Mitsuha knew there the answers would be, and she held up his phone above her as she lay on her back. She tapped on the screen and turned on his phone.

She was surprised to find that the background of his phone had changed since she had last used it as him. The image of a blue sky had been changed to a gradient dark grey background. In the center there was a silver image of the ouroboros, the serpent devouring its own tail. She was a bit confused about why this new image was his phones background, but she focused on seeing what he was hiding. Mitsuha felt a twinge of guilt for rummaging through his phone, but she was trying to help. She slid her finger across the screen and was given another surprise when she discovered his phone was now password protected. She would now need to provide the correct four digit password in order to access his phone and ready and journal entries he had. She clicked on the word "Hint" located just below the password bar. The hint was merely one word "Date". Mitsuha thought to herself what date would have enough importance with Taki for him to remember. She spent several minutes pondering this dilemma, and then she let out a yawn. Mitsuha was feeling tired from her day, and she could not bring herself to think of any logical conclusions. Though frustrated, she turned the phone off and rolled over on her side, pulling the sheets up and covering herself. Mitsuha closed her eye and eventually drifted off into sleep.


	4. Morrigan

The Friday of October the fourth came and brought with it the distinct slight chill of the fall. With the end of the week came nature's vivid finale. Uniform green leaves had fnally given way to a vibrant cascade of reds, oranges, and yellows. It too marked the first day of winter uniforms for the students. The male students would begin to wear their black military style uniforms, while the girls would adorn a grayish-blue sleeveless sweater over a white long sleeve dress shirt.

But for the small town of Itomori, that Friday marked their yearly autumn festival. It was a beloved yearly tradition in the rural town that brought joy to its inhabitants. The residents of Itomori were all looking forward to attending the festival after their long strenuous day. To top it all off, it was the day when the comet Tiamat, with an orbital period of 1,2000 years, would reach its perigee and pass closest to Earth. It was guaranteed to be a spectacle for the whole world to see.

On that morning Mitsuha left the house with a knot contorted in her stomach. She did not wear a jacket that day, her winter uniform was adequate in keeping her sufficiently warm. Her mind remained plagued with concern over the events of the day prior, specifically regarding her boyfriend Taki and his behavior. She was unsure of how Taki would greet her that morning, and that uncertainty unsettled her. Thus, she bared that melancholic look with her head tilted down as she waited for those close to her to arrive.

"Morning Mitsuha!" Taki called out to her. She looked up to find Taki standing there on her street, having come to wait for her once more. He waved and gave her a heartfelt smile.

"Good morning Taki." She replied rather neutrally, making her way towards him.

"Mitsuha, I want to apologize for yesterday." He began. "I was having a bad day, and I'm sorry for taking that out on you. I don't want you to think I'm becoming distance because I really do care about you."

Mitsuha was surprised by his forwardness, yet nevertheless she let slip a sigh of relief. "It's alright Taki, I'm glad to hear you say that." She smiled back at him. "By the way, you left this in the classroom yesterday." She reached into her bag and produced his phone.

"Ah, thank you." He showed his appreciation as he retrieved the phone from her. "You saved me from embarrassing myself in front of Yukino-sensei. Now then, let's get to class." He gestured his hand out to her. Feeling her worries simply fade away, Mitsuha took him by the hand and they walked to school together in that manner once more.

"So are you still unable to make it to the festival tonight?" Mitsuha asked him.

"Yeah, sorry but I kind of have to deal with moving a few things and tonight is kind of the only night I can do it." He explained. "I will try to get it done quickly to watch the comet with you though."

"I hope you can, it'll be our only chance so I'd really like you to be there."

"I will try my best to be there." He vowed.

"Yo!" Tessie shouted as he rapidly approached them on his bike. Taki and Mitsuha stopped and allowed him to catch up even quicker, coming to a stop rather quickly with Sayaka in tow as was customary. They too were both dressed in their winter uniforms.

"Good morning." Mitsuha greeted them.

"Good morning to you too." Sayaka responded as she dismounted the bike.

"So are we all excited for the festival tonight?" Tessie asked the group.

"Yeah, the fall festival is so much fun." Sayaka replied cheerfully.

"Sorry, I can't make it." Taki reminded him. "I have to take care of some things with moving in still."

"Oh, that's right. Mitsuha told us about that." Tessie recalled.

"I'll try to catch up later and watch the comet pass tonight, but there's no way I'll be able to make it to the festival." He elaborated.

"That's a shame, but I guess there's always next year." Sayaka attempted to console him.

"Hey, at least there's a chance you can still get to watch the comet pass. That's something that sure isn't going to come around for a while." Tessie pointed out. "Plus I'm sure that's something you're both looking forward to." He remarked with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" A flustered Mitsuha demanded as her face started to turn a rosy pink.

"Come on, you mean you didn't imagine yourselves watching the comet pass together? A couple gazing up at the night sky watching a once in a life time event shoot through the sky, probably holding hands while you do so. And be honest Tachibana, you probably want to know what she looks like in a yukata." Both Taki and Mitsuha were quite abashed at this point as indicated by their ruby red faces.

Sayaka gave Tessie a light tap on the arm. "Ah, don't tease them so much!" She chided.

"Sorry." He apologized with a resounding grin of victory. The four of them continued on to school together on that day which promised to be most eventful. The crisp and nippy chilled air remained still and painted leaves remained stagnant. As their group passed by the road which Taki would always abscond down, a single crow flew in circles overhead.

* * *

There were two topics which instantly became to new points of interest for everyone at school, the fall festival and the comet. All throughout the day, before class, during lunch, and even as school let out nearly everyone was speaking to their friends about at least one of those two topics. Indeed that Friday was a day that brought with it joyous anticipation. Once the sun would rest below the mountains it would turn into night of festivities that was sure to leave its enduring mark.

After class the group of four headed home together. Once they were out of sight from the school and any other prying eyes of fellow students, Taki and Mitsuha took each other by the hand once more. Sayaka could not help but grin in admiration of their affection. The time came when Taki had to break off from the group and return home. He gave Mitsuha a personal farewell and his word that he would try his best to catch up with them later in the evening to watch the comet pass.

Mitsuha had begun her weekend homework assignments not long after returning to her own home. Diligently she drudged though the paperwork and finished as much of her weekend homework as possible. This served a dual purpose, allowing her to pass the time quickly until the festival would begin. Time passed by quickly as she was engaged in her studies. Eventually the ringtone of her phone sounded off and she reached her arm out to retrieve it as he her remained fixated on her work. She looked the caller ID which read Tessie's name below the time 17:03. She pressed the green button on the screen and held the device up to her ear.

"Hey Tessie." She greeted him.

"Hey Mitsuha, are you ready to head out to the festival?" His voice asked through the phone.

"Not really, I can go but I have to get ready." She replied. "I've been trying to get my homework out of the way."

"Ah, that's a good idea. I'm going to pick Sayaka up at her house, come meet us at our spot then, alright?"

"Alright, see you soon." Mitsuha bid him farewell before ending the call. She put her homework away for the day and prepared for the festival. She changed into a blue yukata with a pattern of white flowers and a crimson red obi sash around her waist. Mitsuha bid her grandmother farewell before departing and heading to the spot where she and her friends had often enjoyed meeting after school.

When Mitsuha left the house the sun was already out of sight below the mountains and twilight had come to dazzle for a fleeting moment. She headed for their makeshift café by the road and lonesome vending machine. There she met up with Tessie who was dressed in a red zippered jacked with a single horizontal white stripe across his chest, and Sayaka who adorned a yukata as well. Sayaka's was beige in color with a pattern of stars across it and a violet obi tied across her waist. The two who were waiting waved as the third member of their group arrived. Mitsuha thanked them for waiting and they then departed to the festival together.

Itomori's fall festival was as lively as it was every year. In that one night nearly the entirety of the town's population was out attending the festival. There were such a great number of various stands set up that they were spread into several different groups across the town. Mitsuha, Sayaka, and Tessie were filled with delight as they sauntered through the festival and enjoyed all that it brought. They played games various games together and ordered takoyaki. For all their gripes about the small backwater town of Itomori, the fall festival was one event which would always bring joy to the otherwise forlorn group of friends.

Time felt fleeting that night as they enjoyed Itomori's once a year celebration. Yet the true grand spectacle was yet to come. Once a few hours had passed and the moon had rose high into the night sky, they had decided to go and watch the comet pass soon. They departed from the yearly fall festival and went to seek a spot ideal for watching the incredibly rare celestial event. Mitsuha believed she knew a spot and led her two friends there. She heard a buzz come from her handbag and she reached in to retrieve her phone. It was a text from Taki saying he was free now and wanted to know where to meet her. She texted him directions to where they were headed and told him they would be watching the comet pass at that location.

"Is that Tachibana?" Sayaka asked.

"Yeah, he said he can join us in watching the comet." Mitsuha answered.

"That's good to hear. I'm glad he doesn't have to miss out on this." Tessie responded.

They continued to press onwards towards the spot Mitsuha had picked out. They headed down some of the less traveled roads of Itomori as the stars and the moon illuminated their path. Within a few minutes Mitsuha had led them to a bend in one of the roads that had a dirt path which curved around a large hill. It was there that they had run into Taki, who had approached from the opposite direction of the road.

"Hey, glad to see you could make it Tachibana." Tessie greeted him.

"Yeah, I'm glad I got everything finished quickly." He replied as they formed into one large group. Mitsuha had moved closest to him and they exchanged heartfelt smiles. "You know I think you were right Tessie. Mitsuha, you look really good in a yukata." He commented.

"Oh, thank you Taki." She showed her gratitude for his compliment, blushing ever so slightly. "Come on, the top of this hill is a great spot to watch the comet. It should be visible by now."Mitsuha led them once more as they made their way up the winding dirt trail which would bring them to the crest of that large hill.

"It's 19:44, the comet is predicted to reach its perigee in less than a minute." Taki informed his friends.

"Then we'll make it just in time." Sakaya announced as they made their way up the hill's path. The dirt path curved around and encircled the large hill. They trekked up that path and soon arrived at the grassy top of that hill. Once they had arrived they looked up to see the comet in full view.

It was a breath taking sight of pure beauty. The comet shined as a lighthouse in the night sky, overpowering the stars and drawing attention instead to its own radiance. Its flight path had been highlighted by a bright neon blue that glowed along with the comet. A vibrant spectrum of blues and purples were draped underneath the tail of the comet and added to the vibrancy of the rare celestial event.

Once they had gazed up upon that sight each one of them had lost their breath. The very sight of the comet was one of pure awe. They gazed up at the pure brilliance of the celestial event and were filled with a sense of wonder and joy. They all felt a unified sense of privilege to be able to experience this millennial event. Mitsuha inched closer to Taki, both of them keeping their gazes high. She brushed her hand against his and he took it without hesitation or delay. Though surprised by his quick reaction, she was nonetheless content standing there and holding his hand in that moment.

"Look!" Sayaka exclaimed with a point towards the heavens.

The comet seemed to flicker before it did the unpredictable. It split, dividing into two separate comets before the very world that night. One half continued along the regular flight path, shooting ever forward through the vast emptiness of space. The other fragment of the comet diverged into a different direction and began to glisten a vibrant red. That group of four who gazed up at its brilliance were amazed by the occurrence, and felt joyed that they could forever tell of the day they witnessed what seemed to be a miracle.

Then a loud disturbance cut through the silent wonder. A symphony of sirens blared throughout the small town and grabbed the attention of every alert citizen. "Attention, this is an emergency evacuation order. All citizens are to evacuate to Itomori High School. Attention…" The pre-recorded declaration began to repeat. The four friends all looked at each other with confusion and concern.

"What do you think that's about?" Tessie asked.

"No clue." Taki responded. "Should we do what it says?"

"I guess we might as well head in that direction." Mitsuha decided to comply with the decree. "If they don't stop it then it's serious." They all then began to head back down the dirt path and head for their school for the second time that day.

* * *

While most of the town was evacuating, Itomori's town hall was on high alert. The evacuation order sent out to the town's public speaker system had not originated from them. Instead their broadcasting signal was being hijacked and they had no idea where this hijacking was originating. The town's mayor, Miyamizu Toshiki, spearheaded their campaign to end the unwanted transmission and unmask whoever was behind this incident. Workers around him scrambled, either running back and forth or focusing all their attention towards their efforts to track the signal.

"Hurry, I want that broadcast shut down." Toshiki ordered his underlings icily, his stern gaze only aiding to his tone. Unfortunately there was no way for them to cut power specifically to the loudspeaker systems. There was no switch or breaker which could cut power to them, and even if one existed they still were capable of running off emergency generators. Whoever was behind this and whatever they were planning, Toshiki knew that they were exposing a critical weakness.

"Sir, it seems our attempts to track the signal's origin are being jammed." One of his men reported.

"What?" Toshiki's tone became agitated.

"We're experiencing some sort of interference. We can't track the signal." The same man clarified.

"Whoever is doing this, they're clearly prepared." Tosihiki grit his teeth. "But how on earth could they jamming us? Could it be possible that they're using some type of long range jamming device along with their broadcasting equipment?" He began to ponder for a few brief moments.

"Get me the security tapes from the last 48 hours." He ordered. The other works within the town hall all stared at him unanimously. "I have a theory about how we're being jammed. Now get those tapes!" He snapped as he made his way towards the security room.

"Right away!" Another one of his men shouted as he rushed towards the security room to prepare the recordings.

The security room of Itomori's town hall was cramped and dimly lit. It contained a set of two monitors and two towers connected to each screen. A large bookshelf in the corner was filled with hard copies of the most recent footage from the town hall's security cameras. Tosihiki stood by one of these monitors as one of his workers inserted the CD into the computer. To his right stood one of his female employees, a younger woman with her caramel hair tied in a ponytail. The computer's default media player activated and buffered for a few brief moments before displaying a starting image of the footage and a translucent play button.

"Fast forward it, look for anyone who doesn't usually come in." Toshiki ordered. The man by the computer hit play and set it go as fast as the player would allow. Toshiki's steely gazed remained fixated on the footage of the town hall's entrance. Itomori was his town, and that building his castle. He would not allow anyone to interfere with either.

"Stop." He ordered as an unrecognized individual stepped through the front door. He was dressed in a navy blue jumper and matched blue baseball cap. In his right hand was a tool back which contained several tool sticking out of pouches.

"That was the man we called to do maintenance on our heating system sir." The man to Toshiki's right informed him.

"Continue then." The recording was resumed and several hours of past time began to fly by. Eventually another figure entered the building, a teenage boy dressed in khakis and a blue button up shirt with a matching blue cap. He carried a cardboard box in his arms as he entered the building. "There, find out where he went." Toshiki ordered. His underling changed the settings of the recording to play footage from several different cameras at once. Toshiki kept a close eye as the young delivery man, who appeared to be about school age, entered the town hall and approached the front desk. He spoke to the receptionist who then pointed him towards a certain direction. The young boy seemed to thank her and made his way into the conference room.

The large room was not being used at the time and thus no one else was around. Toshiki watched as the young boy pulled something out of his pocket and crawled under the large table. A few seconds later he reemerged from the underside of the table and grabbed the cardboard box. He then left with it and seemed to apologize to the receptionist about something. She did not seem to think of him as suspicious in the slightest and simply acknowledged him before he left.

"That's certainly odd." The other man in the room commented. The boy on screen headed for the exit, turning his head one last time. It was that otherwise meaningless action which put him into checkmate. The camera had gotten a good view of his face right before he left the building. Now there was an identifiable suspect.

"Wait, I've seen him before." The woman began to recall. "I forget his name, but he just moved here recently. I was helping him with all the legal paperwork."

"Bring me our information on him." He ordered her. She nodded and departed that room just before he did, and they both headed off towards separate destinations.

A few minutes later Toshiki reappeared back in the broadcasting room with a small anti-tracking device in his hands. He had found it right where that boy had placed it, on the underside of the large conference table, right in the center. It was now switched off and would be used for evidence later on. "There, you should be able to track that signal now." He informed those attempting to track the still airing broadcast.

"Found it." One of his men announced. "It's coming from a small house near the lake."

"Sir!" The woman from earlier approached him. "Here's the file you requested." She handed him a manila folder, inside all of their information about their intruder. Toshiki took it from her and hastily opened it. There was a picture attached that match the boy he saw earlier, and a name was given on the very first document, Tachibana Taki. He examined the address listed and matched it with that of the signal's source. It had seemed that he was hijacking their signal from his home while a small otherwise unseen jammer would go by right under their noses.

"Call up the police and tell them what's going on, give them that address and tell them town hall is giving them permission to enter and shut down that broadcast." The one who had announced the finding of the hijacking's origin nodded and picked up the landline phone at his desk.

* * *

The sound of the evacuation order was becoming fainter as Taki, Mitsuha, Tessie, and Sayaka were on the long path towards their school. They had noticed other too were making their way towards the school or making preparations to evacuate. Some voiced their complaints about the evacuation order disturbing their time at the fall festival. Yet they did not have much choice, knowing that town hall would not give such an order at that time unless it was quite serious.

Once they were about halfway down the path leading towards the high school they heard the broadcast come to an abrupt stop. They stopped in their tracks and turned their heads back towards the town, as did many others on their way towards the supposed evacuation point. A set of 3 dings came from the loudspeakers before a woman's voice came through.

"This is Itomori Town Hall, please disregard the previous announcement. You may return to your prior evening activities." There was a click as the decree came to an end. Many of the town's residents began to mumble complaints about their town hall. They turned away from the school and began to head back to their homes or return to the festival.

"Huh, I wonder what that was about." Mitsuha pondered aloud.

"Maybe your dad accidentally hit the wrong button." Sayaka jested.

"Don't say that, I'd never hear the end of it at school." Mitsuha moaned. Sayaka and Tessie chuckled, and none of them noticed Taki's apparent state of panic. His eyes were widened and sweat dripped down the side of his head despite the otherwise cool weather. They only noticed when he suddenly took off running towards the town.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sayaka shouted at him. He did not respond, instead he kept sprinting full speed towards town. "What's gotten into him?"

Mitsuha suddenly took off after him, much to the surprise of her other two friends. "Taki wait!" She shouted as she gave chase. She was slower than him, especially when dressed in her yukata, and thus he was quickly gaining distance. "I'm going after him, I'll see you later!" She shouted back at the stupefied Tessie and Sayaka.

Taki had come to a corner nearby his house and hid behind another home. He peeked around the corner to find two police cars in front of his home. One officer stood out front and talked with some others dressed in business attire, people that Taki had guessed were from town hall. Two more officers exited his house carrying his radio equipment out. Taki bit his lip as he came to realize the situation that was playing out.

"Damn it, not again." He muttered to himself. "Not this time." He suddenly double back the way he had come in search of Mitsuha. He had heard her give chase but knew that she would be unable to catch him. He also knew that from then on she was the key to success and his last hope. He soon ran into her on the road they had taken to school every morning, not far from there their paths home branched off. He stopped dead in his tracks and allowed her to quickly catch up.

"Taki, what's going on?" She asked worriedly. "Why on earth did you take off like that?"

"Mitsuha, listen to me." He suddenly sounded quite stern. "I don' have the time to explain everything right now. I'll fill you in later, but right now I need you to-"

He was suddenly interrupted by the wail of a siren. He quickly turned about to see two police cars approaching him with their lights cutting through the dark night. They slowly came to a stop nearby and cut off an escape route from that direction. Two officers exited from each car, and from one of the cars a third man stepped out, Miyamizu Toshiki. Taki turned pale and his heart sunk like a chunk of lead. Mitsuha stared in confusion as her mind could instantly pick up that something was going dreadfully wrong.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in young man?" Toshiki scolded him as he approached with the officers.

"Oto-san?" Mitsuha sounded lost. "What's going on? Why are you here with the police?"

"Because this delinquent has caused use plenty of trouble." He pointed accusingly at Taki. "Hijacking our broadcasting frequency, playing a fake evacuation order, and even infiltrating town hall to hide a jammer, I don't know what your endgame is here but you're in quite a lot of trouble."

"What?" Mitsuha grinned lightly after hearing all that. "Come on oto-san, Taki's just a student. You make him sound like some kind of spy or something. There's no way he could do any of that, right Taki?" She turned him yet he could not do the same. He shamefully avoided her gaze. Mitsuha's smile of disbelief vanished as she came to realize that it was all in fact true. "Taki?" She tried to pull some sort of response from him.

"You're coming with us, you have a lot to answer for. As for you…" The mayor turned his unfeeling gaze towards his eldest daughter. "I don't know what your relationship with this criminal is, but from now on you are forbidden to speak to him."

"What?! You can't just-"

"You are not to speak with him ever again and that is final." Toshiki used his iron fist to crush any sort of resistance from her soul. Mitsuha decided not to protest, lowering her head and silently obliging.

"Listen to me, everyone here is in danger!" Taki suddenly spoke up. "You need to keep telling them to evacuate!"

"Is this all just some sort of prank to you? You're sick." Toshiki berated him.

"No, you don't understand!" Before Taki could explain any further a tone on his phone sounded off. Taki reached into his pocket with a panicked expression. Once he glanced at his phone and read 20:20 his heart sunk and all emotion seemed to drain from his face. "It's too late."

"What do you mean too late?" Toshiki questioned him. The answer came crashing down behind them. The sound of an explosion and the rising mixture of smoke and earth had caught the attention of all but the accused. Where two houses once stood now was a small impact site that had wiped the buildings out. "What was that?" They began to look around for whatever may have caused it. One of the officers discovered the truth once he had looked up.

"No, it can't be." He sounded panicked; desperately thinking it must be a dream. The others all looked up as well and saw the macabre sight. A hail of rocks from the sky was quickly descending upon the small town. A few more crashed off in father parts of the town yet they could see what was soon to come. The glaring and sparking red light of the meteor was coming ever closer to them and the small town of Itomori. What was once a rare comet that had divided into two became a meteor that brought with it the promise of demise.

"Quick, get as many people to evacuate as possible!" Toshiki shouted. He and the officers all scatted in a meaningless attempt to save as many as they could. Time was not their ally however. Taki simply slumped to the ground defeated as Mitsuha stared up at the massive incoming rock. She glanced back down at Taki and could see his despair and his defeat. Even as her death approached she could still focus her curiosity on Taki.

"Taki… did you know about this?" She asked with bewilderment at her surreal reality.

"I'm sorry Mitsuha, I failed to protect you yet again."

She had wanted to ask him what he meant, ask him if he really knew this was coming and if so how, and ask him why he did those things her father had accused him of. There were so many questions she now had for him. Yet they would all go unanswered. In the blink of an eye the fragment of Tiamat came crashing down to earth and very close to them, right where the road split. Both of them were killed instantly from the initial impact. The kinetic force of the meteor swept through the town in less than a second, exploding outward with devastating force. Builds were destroyed and blown into small fragments and lives were lost.

In only a second 500 lives were lost from the meteor, a third of Itomori's total population. The massive noise from the impact shook those miles away and the entire event would reach even farther. The comet had passed leaving a beautiful sight while the meteor left behind a wide area of destruction and death. It's mark would forever be the scar on the land to stand as a memorial for all those lives lost. Smoke continued to rise from the impact until the morning, and the only thing left in that area was a single crow flying overhead.


	5. Ouroboros

Taki awoke with a jolt and swiftly shot upright on his futon. The alarm on his phone sounded off and reminded him to get up. Taki reached over to his phone and shut the alarm off. He glanced at the date which confirmed what he already knew. The date was Monday September 30th, and it was to be his first day at Itomori High School. He let out a sigh and fell back against the futon, resting his head on his pillow once more.

"Twenty-one is a failure too." He sounded defeated. He entered the password on his phone and accessed its journal app. He entered a description of his latest attempt before turning the screen off and getting up from his futon. He had an hour and a half until school would begin, and he needed to get ready for his twenty-second first day.

For the twenty-second time he introduces himself to the class. He is rather confident about it by now, it's something he already done many times. He takes the same seat directly in front of Mitsuha. She just stares at him with that same dumbfounded look, thinking he does not take notice of her. He does though, he always sees how surprised she is every time she sees him first enter that classroom.

By that point everything was just monotonous to him, as if it were all becoming hollow. He could hear Miss Yukino give her lectures but it all just passed through him. By then he already knew what she was going to say and he knew the answer to anything she would ask. His appearance of a studious student was just a facade at that point. His mind would wander elsewhere, usually towards strategizing his plan, while his eyes would remain falsely attentive as he scribbled nonsensical notes. He kept up that disguise, but in the end a mask is nothing more than a mask.

Mitsuha was one of the few things that still brought him happiness. She'd catch up with him in the hall as he left class and call out his name. He'd always turn to see that nervous yet joyful smile whenever she would meet him for the first time. Even if it was his twenty-second time having that encounter, that moment would always bring a genuine smile to his face, and renew his decaying heart. She unknowingly reminded him that she was his reason for being in his current situation. He would give her that same old excuse about his dad moving away and she'd always buy it. It wasn't as if she had any reason not to trust him.

They'd reminisce about the times they had swapped bodies and how they lived each other's' lives. There were heartwarming memories and there were laughs in those times they shared as if they were old friends. Mitsuha would interrogate him about touching her breasts and Taki would always feel guilty over it. He had no idea why that was something that would ways come up, so he just assumed that she must have been meaning to question him whenever they would meet. Then after he apologized she invited him to eat lunch so he could be reintroduced to Tessie and Sayaka.

He'd follow her out and join Mitsuha and her friends for lunch, again being formally introduced to Tessie and Sayaka. Taki would always play it as if he were just another new student, even though he was quite familiar with the town of Itomori. However, Mitsuha would always let something slip such as his job, his school, or just Tokyo in general and Taki would have to cover for her. He made up that lie about internet friendship a while ago and it always did the trick.

He'd continue to lose focus in class as Miss Yukino repeated the same information he was already more than familiar with. There was only one time he'd ever actually pay attention, and that was when Miss Yukino covered The Epic of Gilgamesh. It was a story Taki could feel a connection with. After the death of his best friend, the titular character Gilgamesh went on a journey to find everlasting life. He had come so close too, only for it to be taken from him at the last moment. It was something Taki felt he could relate to. He listened as his teacher narrated the battle with Humbaba, and Taki felt as if he were in the position of Gilgamesh. Tiamat was his Humbaba, an immense and terrible thing that he had to defeat.

Once they moved on from ancient literature Taki ceased to pay attention to Miss Yukino's lectures. He simply stared and feigned attentiveness while his mind wandered elsewhere. His thoughts drifted towards the past. He began to think how he had even managed to get himself into his current situation.

* * *

It had been raining all day that day. The grey sky continued to cry fittingly as Taki made his way up the final slope towards the body of the Miyamizu Shrine's god. He had been walking all morning in order to reach that spot, the same one he had once visited in Mitsuha's body. That was three years ago, and he was finding this out all too late. There was no town behind him, just empty homes alongside a lake made of two connected craters. Itomori was now nothing more than a hollow fragment of what was and a residual scar of painful memories.

Taki finally made it up to the ringed peak of that mountain and gazed down into the third crater. In the center of that lay the large rocks and small cave which made up the true heart of the former Miyamizu Shrine. It had been several weeks since he was last at the shrine, and yet at the same time it had also been over three years. After Taki had first come to realize the truth of Itomori's fate along with that of Mitsuha he was devastated. His soul had felt entirely crushed as he realized he was too late to ever have the chance to meet her. Miyamizu Mitsuha had died three years earlier, one of the over five-hundred casualties when the fragment of Tiamat crashed into Itomori and wiped out a third of its population.

But then he had remembered something. It was something that Mitsuha's grandmother Hitoha had told him during their visit to the body of the shrine. "They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, and then connect again. That is Musubi." She was referring to both their practice of braiding cords and the flow of time. She had also said that to put part of one's self into something is also Musubi. This gave Taki an idea, one final hope to try and save Mitsuha.

He made his way across the damp green fields of the crater and towards the center. He crossed the River Styx into the underworld and entered the cool and drier cave. Though water had collected in the small cavern, it did not come close to the quantity of the outside world where it had been raining since the sun had risen. Taki made his way to the end of the cave where a small offering shrine was carved into the rock. Worn and tattered banners yet hung above the platform, even after years of neglect. Placed on the small shrine were two moss covered ceramic jars. Both had a small twist cap at the top along with some braided cords from the Miyamizu family.

"They're still here." Taki sounded relieved as he knelt down at the shrine. He had remembered his visit to the shrine when, as Mitsuha, and Yotsuha had offered up their kuchikamizake to the shrine's god. One of these two jars held the last bit of Mitsuha left in the world. That was the only hope he had to change fate. Taki reached for the jar he had placed and rubbed some of the moss off. Underneath the ceramic had seemed to decay some but it was not yet brittle or cracked. Taki unscrewed the small and filled it with a small amount of the kuchikamizake from within. He placed the jar back and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He used the light to examine the small amount of liquid in the cap, seeing it was still clear and had not been disturbed until he had come along.

"This is it, my last chance to try and change fate." Taki quickly downed the small amount of liquid, not even getting a real taste of it. He returned the cap to the jar and waited. He closed his eyes and his breathing steadied. He waited for something to happen, for anything to happen. After about a minute Taki opened his eyes and found he was still at the shrine. He checked his phone and found the date was still the same and time was continuing to move forward. The gentle patter of rain outside continued and the scent of it seeped into the cave.

"It didn't work." Taki realized aloud. "That's it then, I can't do it. I can't go back." Tears began run down his cheeks. "Mitsuha, I'm sorry, I couldn't save you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry-" Taki continued to apologize as he remained on his knees. He couldn't stand even if he had wanted to. Even after he was done apologizing for that which he could not help, Taki still knelt down there in the shrine and continued to silently mourn. Mitsuha was gone, there was no changing that. His dream had ended, and now it was time to face reality.

Taki spent hours in that cave alone, mourning the death of a girl he had never met, yet still loved nonetheless. He grieved until her felt as if he had let it all out all that he could, though the pain would not leave him. When he stepped out of the shrine the sun was already descending, being covered halfway by the ridge of the crater the shrine was in. His eyes had dried and the swelling had gone down by then, and all that remained was that empty look of hopelessness. He looked out upon the wet field of grass that surrounded him when something caught his attention.

There was someone else within the crater of the body of the Miyamizu Shrine. Taki was surprised to see anyone else at the old shrine. The other figure was sitting on a rock nearby, and he turned to greet Taki. He was a boy that appeared to be around Taki's age with short jet black hair that reached down just enough to cover his ears. Though his build was similar to Taki's this stranger had younger and boyish facial features. He was dressed in rather ornate traditional clothing. He wore a crimson haori over his traditional clothes, and a hakama, all of which were the same color. The haori and hakama were decorated with an intricate pattern of gold, and instead of an obi he wore a thick gold braided cord around his waist. But what caught Taki's attention the most were his crimson red eyes.

"Ah, hello there." The other boy greeted him cordially. "Come, join me."

"Oh… alright." Taki agreed, still taken aback by the other's presence. He made his way over towards the few rocks, one of which the other boy was sitting on, and found they were surprisingly dry. Taki took a seat next to the other boy who seemed to be enjoying the scenery.

"It's so peaceful here isn't it?" The boy in the fine haori asked. "Like all the troubles of the outside world are just kept at bay."

"I guess." Taki responded plainly. "Sorry, but who are you?"

"Ah, I supposed I Should introduce myself." He turned his attention towards Taki. "My name is Musubi, and I am the god of this shrine." Taki's expression shifted from confusion to astonishment. He was now face to face with an actual Shinto god, the very one who had previously looked over Itomori and the Miyamizu clan. "As in the you stole from." Musubi's tone became deadpan, and Taki's face lit up like a traffic light. "Haven't you ever read any Greek myths? Do you know what gods do to people for that?"

"I'm very sorry Musubi-sama." Taki bowed his head apologetically. "I didn't meant to steal from you, honestly. I was… well it's kind of hard to explain."

Musubi chuckled. "Relax, I'm not angry with you." Musubi reassured him. "In fact I know exactly what you meant to do."

"You do?" Taki asked with astonishment.

"Indeed, I know all about you and your lover Miyamizu Mitsuha." Taki's face became flush once more at the utterance of the word lover. "But I am curious, do you truly believe you can go against fate?"

"I don't believe there's any such thing as fate." Taki responded resolutely. "People have control of their own lives and their futures. Nothing is written in stone."

"What of the people in Itomori when the comet struck? Were they in control of their own fate that day?"

"Well at that time I guess they didn't." Taki admitted. "But If I could go back and swap with Mitsuha just one more time then I could change that, I could save them."

Musubi fell silent for but a brief moment as took read of Taki. "I admire your determination, it can take you far in life. But you must understand that what is meant to happen is simply meant to happen." Musubi explained. "Suppose I tell you that in four-hundred years another meteor will come and strike this exact spot, and suppose that you say in another four-hundred years no meteor will come. In either case it stands that one of those statements must necessarily be true."

Taki stared back at the god with a blank expression. Musubi's lecture had been as effective as a match underwater. "I don't understand."

"My point is that in either case it is inevitable whether a meteor will or will not strike this spot in four-hundred years. Neither you nor I will be able to do anything to either stop or cause the supposed impact. That is fate, that which is independent of and unaffected by our control."

"But it doesn't have to be!" Taki protested. "If I could go back just one last time then I could save everyone from their fate."

"You are referring to their personal fates in this instance. I assume you are not under the delusion that you are capable of stopping the meteor itself." Taki shook his head. "So even if you are able to save their lives then there will still be one and a half thousand people without a home. Even if they are spared from the meteor the entire town will be evacuated and abandoned. As I have said, it is pointless to try and fight fate, instead you must simply learn to live with it and accept things as they are."

"There's no way I'd just accept all those people dying!" Taki retorted, his voice carrying more anger than his last outburst. "If there were a way to at least try and save them then I'd go for it. I couldn't just let them die, especially not Mitsuha!" His voice spiked once more when mentioning her.

"What if you fail?" Musubi questioned him and his resolve. "Would you really be happy if she were alive yet stuck in your body without you?"

"I know it wouldn't be ideal, but at least she'd be alive." Taki responded diligently.

"Would that be a life worth living, if she were stuck in your body three years later and without you?" Musubi pressed Taki even further.

"At least she'd be alive. If I fail then so be it, but if there's a chance to save Mitsuha and everyone else who died then I'd take it. I'm willing to risk my life and even give it to save Mitsuha."

Musubi became silent as he thought over Taki's words. Taki's perseverance was plain for the Shinto god to see. Even if Musubi disagreed with Taki, it was clear that he was unwavering to his beliefs. This resolve was especially present when it came to saving Mitsuha, his entire reason for having come to Itomori in the first place.

"Then perhaps it would be best if you learn your lesson." Musubi decided. "I shall grant your wish and send you back three years ago. In fact I shall even send you back in your body."

"Seriously?" Taki's expression quickly became elated and hopeful. "Thank you so much Musubi-sama!"

"Hold on a moment, there's more to it." Musubi informed him. "I will give you a day to get yourself situated in the Itomori. After that you will have five days before the comet will strike. If you fail then the five days will reset and you may try it over again."

"So you're allowing me to give this as many tries as possible?" Taki asked.

"I suppose in a sense, but that is not my intention. In truth I want you to see for yourself that you are incapable of changing fate." Musubi explained. "It will be like a video game where you have a save point, and you will have the choice of when to quit the game and give up. Once you have learned that you cannot change fate I will send you back to your time."

"What if I succeed, and what if I do save everyone including Mitsuha?" Taki asked.

"If that should be the case then I will admit I was wrong, and you will be allowed to live your life with her." Musubi responded. "Now go, return to the past and see four yourself just how unbreakable fate truly is."

Musubi raised his hand and waved just as the sun finally set and reached twilight, that fleeting moment between day and night. Taki merely blinked and it had begun. In that split second when he opened his eyes again he found the sun had seemingly reset and Musubi had vanished. Taki quickly stood up as a reaction to his surprise, and he quickly surveyed the area around him. For the most part it had looked exactly the same, aside from the sun resetting to its place early in the day. The field of grass was also dry now, even though it had previously been raining.

Taki retrieved his phone from his pocket and used it to check the time and date. It was now just before noon, and the date now read September 29th, 2013. Musubi had done exactly as he had promised, he had sent Taki back three years to a time when Itomori was just a small town in the middle of Gifu Prefecture. Taki quickly placed his phone back in his pocket and took off towards the ridge of the crater. He hastily climbed up its steep slope and looked down at the sight below. Itomori was whole again, or rather it was whole for now.

Taki remembered the comet would strike at 20:20 on October the fourth, and he had until then to plan and prepare. But first, he would have to integrate himself into the town, passing off as a new resident. Even three years ago he was already in possession of a debit card, having stored up what cash he had earned through birthdays, a few odd jobs when he was younger, and one actual job when he was fourteen. He had enough saved up to get himself a small place of residence, he just hoped his current self wouldn't notice. He doubted it as he had never truly used it at that time. Thus, he should be free to use it now, when he would need it most.

Taki quickly descended down the outward slope of the crater and headed for Itomori. He would spend the day acquiring a home to use as his base of operations, as well as enrolling in the nearby high school. He planned to try and get into Mitsuha's class, as he could fondly remember exactly where it was. Taki rushed headlong to the town he would not have to chance to actually visit before the impending meteor. He knew what lay ahead, while at the same time not knowing the adversities he would have to face.


	6. Their First Meeting

The morning of September 30th was an especially important one for Tachibana Taki. He had managed to purchase a small home not far from the lake, and comparatively closer to the school then the rest of the town. There was still a considerably long path leading to the school, but it was not quite as long as his old commune to school in Tokyo. It would be his first day as the new student at Itomori High School, and it would also be the first day of preparation for the impending comet. That fateful Friday night would be inevitable, and Taki now had to find a way to save the town, and most importantly Mitsuha.

He got up early that morning for his anxiousness would not allow him a full night's rest. He quickly made himself breakfast, a simple dish of eggs and rice. He got himself ready early as the school would not be his first destination. Mitsuha was his entire reason for coming to Itomori, for going to the shrine to try and save her, and for taking Musubi's offer to go back in time by three years. She was the drive which pushed him forward, and he was going finally meet her. Taki had already packed his things the night prior, and he had extra time before he would normally have to depart for school.

He could remember the town of Itomori quite well as he had traversed its streets many times as Mitsuha. He knew of where the streets lead, where they branched off, and where they connected again. The entire layout may as well have been a photograph to him. Making his way to her house would prove no problem thanks to that. His plan was to wait until Mitsuha and her sister Yotsuha split up, heading to their respective schools. He would then approach her, and likely give her the second biggest surprised of her life, only to be outdone by an impending cosmic event, before walking to school with her and her friends. He would also need to be officially introduced to Sayaka and Tessie, despite how familiar with them he already was.

Take left his house several minutes earlier than what would be a usual time frame for him. He headed towards Mitsuha's house, taking a route alternative to the one she would take to get to school. Taki did not wish to run into her suddenly and give her too much of a shock, especially if Yotsuha would happen to be nearby and they would both need to explain how they knew each other without having met prior. He trotted down the street he lived on rather casually, without the normal anxiety of moving to a new place. Hastily he hurried down his path towards Mitsuha's house, unable to contain his smile the whole way.

Within a few minutes the familiar home of the Miyamizu family was in sight. Taki's face lit up with glee as he approached. Once he had found a spot to wait, just out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a figure nearby. Yotsuha was walking away from the house and heading towards her school, her back turned, never noticing Taki waiting by her house. There were two possible conclusions that Taki had come to. One was that Mitsuha and her sister must have left early that morning, meaning he had already missed her. The other possibility was that Mitsuha was not feeling well and would not be attending school that day.

Taki was filled with dread as the thought of that possibility. He would have to attend his first day without her there by his side. It would throw his plan off entirely should that be the case. He hurriedly made his way down her path towards school, hoping that he would run into her. It was not even a minute before he had made his way to the large hill by the edge of town. Taki stopped as soon as he got to the top, staring at the three figures below. To the left there was Sayaka, her chocolate brown hair tied into braided twintails. To the right was Tessie walking alongside his bike. She was standing in the center, the girl that Taki had been seeking for what felt like ages.

Miyamizu Mitsuha was going about her business as usual, heading to school alongside her two close friends as if it were any other day. Taki's attention was drawn to her rather unique hairstyle, two braids that met in the back of her head and became a ponytail tied by a braided cord. In his first time seeing how she did her own hair, specifically the string which held it together, Taki was suddenly filled with a lost memory.

* * *

"Don't you remember me?"

He could her voice in his head alongside the sound of train as it continued on the next stop. He could picture her standing before him with a hopeful smile, her cheeks tined a rosy pink. She greeted him like an old friend, and he like she was a stranger. She glanced way nervously and acted as if she were mistaken. He thought of her as a strange girl, though at the same time he admitted to himself that he found her cute. She began to depart when the train came to its next stop. Taki's curiosity got the better of him and he called out to ask her name.

"Mitsuha!" She undid the cord which kept her hair in place. "My name is Mitsuha!" She threw it, one end gracefully moving through the air, and he caught it.

* * *

A few tears came to Taki's eyes as he relived that memory. It was a brief encounter he had all but forgotten about. That braided cord had become his good luck charm, something even he could admit was just a tad cliché. The emotions her was feeling in that moment of revelation were conflicting. Shock that she had come to see him all those years ago. He felt sadness as he was unable to recognize her back then. But mostly it was joy that filled him as he realized this was not truly their first meeting, instead what it all had built up to.

She was descending further down the hill. Taki wanted to chase her, to run to her side and be close to her. Yet his legs would not carry him.

" _Move…_ "

He attempted to command his body. He had wanted to take off as if it was his first time running, but his body would not respond. His brain was overloaded with anxiousness and nostalgia. His voice would have to do. Taki drew a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth.

" **Mitsuha!** "

His voiced traveled far across the surrounding area, carrying with it both a sense of longingness and urgency. The three of them below stopped in their tracks as soon as they heard the shouting. Sayaka and Tessie turned around simultaneously. Both of them stared back at Taki with mild perplexity.

"Who's that?" Tessie asked.

Mitsuha slowly turned around to face the one who had shouted her name and stared back at Taki. Her eyes were widened with surprise at hearing his voice, her heart pounding at seeing his face. Taki attempted to keep his composure but was ultimately unable to hide his nervousness. He felt the pace of his heartbeat pick up as he awaited the sound of her voice.

"Taki-kun?" Her voice made her astonishment quite apparent, sounding almost as if she was questioning reality. Hearing her soft warmed him as if it were the sun. His nervous disposition melted and became an affectionate smile. He began to make his way down that hill and Mitsuha quickly followed suit, running uphill towards him. The two of them swiftly made their way to one another, coming to meet in the middle of that incline. "Taki-kun, what are-"

Mitsuha's inquiry was suddenly cut short when Taki pulled her into an embrace. His arms quickly wrapped around her and he pulled her close, much to the surprise of not only her but her two friends as well. At first Mitsuha was just as surprised by his hug as she was by his sudden appearance. Once that had passed she promptly returned his gesture as her own arms wrapped around his torso, the two of them latching onto each other dearly. They stayed like that for a few brief moments, and yet to them it felt like time had simply come to a stop at that moment.

Taki released Mitsuha, his eyes gleaming with jubilance. "It's nice to finally meet you Mitsuha." He expressed.

"I'm glad to meet you too Taki-kun" She returned. "But what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Tokyo?" She asked astonished.

"Oh, well…" Taki was so caught up with his desire to meet her that he had failed to think of an excuse. "It's kind of a long story, I'll have to tell you later." He managed to dodge the question for the time being. "But I just moved here and starting today we're going to the same school. I'm even in your class too, with Yukino-sensei."

"Are you serious? We're going to the same school now?" Mitsuha's eyes widened with amazement.

"Yeah, that's right." Taki confirmed and nodded.

"That's a lot to take in considering this is the first time we've actually met." Mitsuha responded. "I'm happy though, happy that you came here and that we'll be in the same class now."

The two of them exchanged warm, kind smiles of adoration. They stood there in silence, simply enjoying the moment of finally being in the presence of one another. Mitsuha had thought that her dream had ended, only for it turn into her reality. Taki had feared that he had lost her forever, now she was standing before him. Their mutual sense of relief only further elated that brief moment.

"Hey! Will you two just kiss already?" Tessie shouted up at them, finally breaking the silence. Both Taki and Mitsuha suddenly stiffened before taking a step back, gaining distance between them. Tessie's outburst was met with a light blow to his upper arm from Sayaka. "Ow!" He cried out reflexively and without meaning.

"Ah, you ruined their moment!" She chided his impulsiveness.

Mitsuha regained her smile and gestured for Taki to follow her. She headed back down the hill with Taki following close behind. He could feel his nerves becoming riled once more, as now he had to be introduced to her friends. He began to wonder what kind of a first impression he had just left, a total stranger running up and hugging Mitsuha as if they were old friends or separated siblings.

"So Mitsuha, do you mind introducing us?" Sayaka asked.

"Guys, this is Tachibana Taki, he's…" Taki noticed the same expression he had earlier, one of realization that she could not tell her friends the truth. "He was an online friend." She lied with a rather convincing smile. Taki admired her quick-witted ingenuity.

"After seeing that it seems like he's more than just a friend." Sayaka remarked.

"Ah, Taki-kun…" Mitsuha turned to him, avoiding Sayaka's gaze. "These are my friends Natori Sayaka and Tessiegawara Katsuhiko." She had unconsciously blended his nickname with his real one.

"If you're a friend of Mitsuha then you can just call me Tessie." He ignored her blunder.

"So now that we're all introduced, would you like to walk to school with us Taki-kun?" Mitsuha offered.

"Sure, thanks for letting me tag along." Taki replied.

"Like Tessie said, if you're Mitsuha's friend then we'll consider you our friend too." Sayaka responded. They formed into a line once more, with Taki and Mitsuha on the left. To Mitsuha's right was her friend Sayaka, and then Tessie alongside his bike. They continued like that as their made their way to the school off in the distance.

* * *

"Good morning everyone, I have some news for you all." Miss Yukino announced as she stood in front of her class. "We have a new student joining us today." Several students began to whisper to one another about this revelation. A new student in such a small town was quite the rare event indeed, which was made only stranger considering the time of year. Finals were right around the corner, and this new student would have a lot of work to catch up to. "Why don't you come in and introduce yourself?" Miss Yukino turned to the door as she invited Taki in.

Taki opened the sliding door to the front of the class and stepped in. That classroom was quite familiar to him, yet it lacked the comfort that came with familiarity. Taki was not entering that classroom as someone else, no longer the tomboy side of Mitsuha but instead the new student from the city. He stood before the class alongside his new teacher. Taki's expression was one of uneasiness and nervous uncertainty.

"H-hello, I'm Tachibana Taki." He introduced himself timidly. "It's very nice to meet you all." He bowed to the class.

"Thank you Tachibana-san, you can take that seat by the window." Miss Yukino pointed to the seat directly in front of Mitsuha's spot. Taki silently obliged, making his way to the far aisle and headed up to his new seat in his new classroom. Miss Yukino began the first lecture of the day, starting with Japanese history. Taki diligently took notes and listened just like any other student. The thought of his true objective disappeared and for a time he had become a real student.

He continued to play that role for the first half of the day. Miss Yukino carried one with her lecture before switching over to physics. She went on about the laws of physics and how they were immutable. She began to explain these rules which were in control of reality and could not be changed. Taki found himself struggling with that subject. He managed to endure it and keep up as best he could until the bell rang and dismissed them for lunch.

Mitsuha invited Taki to join her and her friends, and he was more than happy to do so. She led him out to that familiar spot under the shade of the same tree where they would always eat. Tessie and Sayaka had followed them out and they four of them sat there together and enjoyed their brief period between classes. The asked Taki about his life in Tokyo and ate their lunch in the lukewarm air of that passing summer day.

With his mind no longer engaged in his school work, Taki began to focus on forming a plan to try and save the town come Friday night. He knew he could not outright tell Tessie or Sayaka the truth, as they'd likely think of him as insane. Taki had thought about filling Mitshua in on what was going to happen, yet he decided against it. Firstly, he did not wish to worry her with such a grave matter. There was also that feeling he would get whenever they were close to each other. It was a warm and fulfilling feeling that brought him a happiness he knew that only she was capable of making him feel. He did not wish to ruin that with new of an impending natural disaster and death toll of five-hundred people.

Taki began to ponder how he was going to save the town without the help of others. He stared off into the distance as his mind wandered. He gazed at the town in the not too far off distance, his mind entirely focused on finding a solution. The answer came to him when he noticed something a bit more nearby. A could speakers attached to the top of a wooden power pole. Taki came to recall that the town of Itomori had a broadcasting system. There was one time where Taki remembered hearing something come from it about town hall, which presumably was where it was controlled. Taki came to think of when he had come to the abandoned Itomori. While decayed from neglect, the school was otherwise untouched by the meteor's impact. With that Taki knew exactly what he had to do. He had to find a way to evacuate the town to the school before the meteor would strike. Although he still was stumped on the matter of how to execute such a plan.

"Taki-kun." Mitsuha called and brought his focus back to his surroundings. "Aren't you going to eat your lunch?" In his contemplation he had failed to notice that half of their lunch period had gone by. Taki opened up his backpack and looked inside when he was suddenly reminded of one small matter.

"Ah crap!" He exclaimed. "I was so excited about today I forgot to pack a lunch."

"Seriously? I can't believe you Taki-kun." Mitsuha sighed. "Then I'll just share my lunch with you." She used her chopsticks to grab a fried takoyaki ball and offered it to him.

"Oh, thank you." He replied a bit nervously. Taki leaned forward and took the food directly into his mouth. They could both hear Sayaka giggled nearby.

"Feeding each other already, huh?" She teased.

"What? I just thought that I'd offer him some of my lunch!" Mitsuha protested.

"You two really are cute." Sayaka commented. "By the way, are you going to the festival this year Mitsuha?"

"Oh, that's right, the festival is this Friday!" Mitsuha recalled.

"There's a festival this week?" Taki inquired.

"Yeah, once every year Itomori has a festival during the first week of fall." Mitsuha answered him. "You should come with us Taki-kun." Mitsuha cordially invited him along. "It'll be a lot of fun."

"Ah, thanks but I don't know if I can go. I'm going to be kind of busy having just moved in and everything." Taki replied. In truth he had wanted to say yes and he had wanted to enjoy a nice fall festival in that small town. But he had a more pressing matter to attend to, so the festival would have to wait until after he had figured out a way to evacuate the town. Assuming he even could before the festival.

"Oh, alright then." Mitsuha had sounded a bit discouraged. "Just let me know if you can make it then."

"You should really try to make it Tachibana." Tessie attempted to persuade him. "The festival isn't the only thing going on this Friday. It's also when the comet will pass closest to Earth."

"That's right, wow I can't believe I almost forgot about that." Sayaka responded. "That comet comes around once every 1,200 years. If you miss it then you'll never get the chance to see it again."

"But hasn't it been visible for the past week or so?" Taki recalled.

"That's true, but Friday night is when it's supposed to pass closest to Earth. Then the come is going to be super bright in the night sky, and that's only going happen on Friday night." Sayaka elaborated.

"It's pretty lucky for us that's on the same night as the festival." Mitsuha commented. "I really do hope you can make it Taki-kun."

"I'll try to Mitsuha." Taki promised her.

"That's good to hear." She replied with a smile. "Now then…" She reached into her bento with her bare hands and grabbed a disc shaped onigiri, which she then offered to Taki. "You had better eat before we have to go back to class."

"Ah, thanks!"

Mitsuha had shared a bit more of her lunch with him before the sound of the bell would rally the students back to their classes. One they had returned, Miss Yukino began their session on ancient literature. Taki had found that they were about halfway through a story called The Epic of Gilgamesh, which apparently was the oldest known account of human literature. He had actually found that part of the class to be the most interesting, simply listening as their teacher read to them the ancient story of the King of Uruk. On that day she had told them the part where Gilgamesh had rejected the goddess Ishtar, who in order to seek revenge, persuaded her father to send the Bull of Heaven after them. However, Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu were able to slay the bull, which only angered the gods even further. Thus, as punishment Enkidu was marked for death.

Miss Yukino then moved onto math for the remainder of the day. Eventually the bell rang one final time that day, dismissing them from the snare of their classroom. Taki and Mitsuha promptly packed up their things and departed the classroom together. Sayaka and Tessie were waiting for them just outside the classroom, and they departed the school together, making one final stop outside when Tessie retrieved his bike.

Just as they had arrived to school that morning, they too departed as a group again. The sun was starting to set by now, painting the sky vividly with warm colors. Taki had already become accustomed to the shorter sunlight hours in Itomori. It was something he had quickly learned to adjust to as Mitsuha. Thankfully the daylight had lasted long enough for them to find their way home without the use of artificial light.

Eventually they came to the same spot where they had met that morning. Taki had begun to diverge from the group at the base of the hill where they first embraced. "Hey, I actually live down this way." He informed the others.

"Hold on, then why did you come down the top the hill this morning?" Mitsuha asked.

"Oh, um…" Taki faltered. "Well the truth is that I wanted to meet you outside your house this morning but you had already left." He admitted sheepishly.

"Well it's a good thing you missed her." Sayaka chimed in. "That public display was pretty cute."

"Sayaka!" Mitsuha cried in embarrassment.

Sayaka chuckled. "It was nice to meet you Tachibana." She beamed towards her newest friend. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you later." Tessie too bid Taki farewell.

"See you guys tomorrow." Taki waved to them as he began to depart down a separate street.

"Wait a minute Taki-kun!" Mitsuha called out to him, stopping him in his tracks. "I was wondering… would you like to come over to my place after school tomorrow?" She asked aloud, her face red like a rose and her voice wavering. For her that brief pause between question and answer felt as if it had stretched on for hours.

"Oh, sure, that'd be great!" He answered with a grin. "I'll see you tomorrow then." He waved goodbye one final time before turning himself around and heading down the street. Mitsuha felt her entire body release its tension slowly after he had given her that answer.

"Wow that was pretty gutsy of you." Tessie complimented her.

"You two really are cute." Sayaka admired with a grin.


	7. Dinner with the Miyamizus

Taki had become quite restless on the following Tuesday. Once more he had failed to get a proper night's sleep as thoughts of his after school plans with Mitsuha had perturbed him. That morning he had left his house quite eagerly, heading back down the short road by his house before running into Mitsuha. They bid each other a kindly good morning, a simple yet affectionate gesture. Tessie soon came riding down that steep hill with Sayaka in tow, and the four of them headed towards school together once more.

The day had proceeded quite uneventfully. Taki and Mitsuha attended their classes, ate lunch together, and then returned to their classes for the remainder of the day. The end of the day bell rang and signaled for the students to either return home or head to their after school clubs. Mitsuha leaned forwards towards Taki. "Are you ready to go?" She asked him excitedly.

"Just a minute, I have to hand in some work to Yukino-sensei." He responded. Taki had already packed all of his things, save for a small pile of papers held together by a single paperclip. He slung his bag over his right shoulder and made his way towards his teacher. Many students had begun to depart from the class as Miss Yukino gathered her own materials of the day. She heard the sound of one of her students approaching, and looked up to see her newest student with a stack of papers in his hands.

"Excuse me Yukino-sensei, I completed some of the make-up work you gave me." He informed her before offering out the papers to her.

"Ah, thank you Tachibana-san." Miss Yukino took the papers from him. "I'm glad to see you're so studious." She placed his work in with her own things. "I hope it hasn't been too hard adapting to life here. You do seem to get along with Miyamizu-san rather well." She noted.

"Well she and I already knew each other, we were online friends you see." Taki gave her half of the truth. "I just happened to move to this town where she lives."

"Oh, well then I'm glad you already had a friend in this class." She replied pleasantly.

"Thank you Yukino-sensei. Actually, we were both about to head to her house."

"Have a date already, do we?" She asked jokingly.

"Well… Um…" Taki became flustered which caused his teacher to chuckle just a bit.

"Alright then, I suppose I shouldn't keep you any longer." Miss Yukino picked up her folder of schools supplies. "Keep up the hard work Tachibana-san." She encouraged him before making her way towards the sliding door nearest her desk. Taki turned around towards Mitsuha, who was still waiting by their seats. He went and joined her before the two of them departed their classroom together. Tessie and Sayaka were already waiting outside, with Tessie already having retrieved his bike which was previously locked onto the nearby rack.

The four of them walked back to town together, making idle chat on the way as Tessie had asked Taki what he had thought of Itomori and his new school so far. Taki seemed rather pleased with his new life and lacked the yearning to escape the small town that his friends shared. He had also informed them that his old school was ahead of them in math, and thus he was grateful for the repetition of old information, which made his life easier. Sayaka expressed some jealously as math was the subject which she struggled with the most.

Eventually they had reached Mitsuha's house; Tessie and Sayaka usually saw her off there as the two of them had lived even farther in town. They parted ways there with Mitsuha and Taki staying behind as, with some minor persuasion, Tessie carried Sayaka off on the back of his bike. After Taki and Mitsuha had watched their friends depart, she turned to him with a nervous smile. "Are you ready?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I am." His voice wavered as he answered. It was clear he was just as nervous as she was. Though he had been in that house many times and had eaten and slept in that house, the situation still caused him to feel uneasy. He was no longer using the guise of impersonating Mitsuha. Instead Taki was now entering that house as himself, or to Mitsuha's family, her friend who had just recently moved to town.

With a deep breath Mitsuha opened the front sliding shoji door. "I'm home!" She declared. Soon after came the pitter patter of bare feet across the wood floor.

"Welcome home onee-chan!" Her sister Yotsuha greeted here mere moments before she too arrived at the front door. Once she had arrived, Yotsuha's face shifted from a look of happiness to that of confusion. She was thrown off by the stranger standing beside her older sister.

"Yotsuha, this is Tachibana Taki." She gestured towards Taki as she introduced him. "I wanted you guys to meet him so I invited him over for dinner."

Yotsuha stared at the two of them blankly for a brief moment with a blank expression as she took stock of the situation. She turned her to her left before shouting. "Obaa-chan, Mitsuha brought a boy home!" Taki and Mitsuha both suddenly blushed.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" They could hear Hitoha respond from elsewhere within the house. "I'll be there shortly."

Yotsuha turned to their guest. "Come on in then, make yourself at home Tachibana-san." She cordially welcomed him into the Miyamizu family household.

"Thank you very much." Taki expressed his gratitude as Mitsuha removed her shoes, leaving them at the small space by the front door. Taki did the same before following her into her house. Mitsuha led him to their living room, specifically the table at which they would always eat.

"I was thinking we could do our homework together before dinner is ready." Mitsuha suggested.

"Alright, I could really use some help." Taki gladly accepted to go along with it.

"Would you like something to drink Tachibana-san?" Yotsuha offered.

"Just some tea would if it's not too much trouble." He replied quite politely. Yotsuha headed over to the kitchen to prepare a cup of tea as the sound of more footsteps began to approach. Hitoha entered the living room, dressed in gray traditional casual attire, and made her way over towards her granddaughter and their guest.

"Now then Mitsuha, who's this young man here?" Hitoha asked her granddaughter.

"Obaa-chan, this is Tachibana Taki." She introduced him for a second time.

"It's nice to meet you Tachibana-san." Hitoha greeted him. "I'm Mitsuha's grandmother, Miyamizu Hitoha, head of the Miyamizu Shrine."

"I'm pleased to meet you Miyamizu-sama." Taki gave her a rather formal greeting.

"No need to be quite so formal dear, not for one of my granddaughter's friends." Hitoha replied. "Welcome to our home Tachibana."

"Thank you for having me." Taki expressed his gratitude.

"Taki-kun and I are going to do some homework together before dinner." Mitsuha informed her grandmother.

"Alright Mitsuha dear, I'll get dinner started before long then." Hitoha responded. Taki and Mitsuha both sat down at the table beside each other. They swiftly got to work on their assignments and gave aid to one another in order to finish their homework quicker. That was their intention at least. Instead they did not get as much of their work done as they had originally intended. Instead they spent most of their time together conversing and enjoying each other's company.

A few hours had passed by before they even knew it, and Hitoha had prepared dinner for the four of them. The elder of the Miyamizu house took a seat across from Taki and Mitsuha, and Yotsuha sat next to her. "Itadakimasu!" All four of them cheered before helping themselves to portions of the meal Hitoha had prepared.

"So how long have you two known each other?" Hitoha asked. Taki and Mitsuha exchanged glances, both knowing full well they could not give her the truth.

"Well to be honest…" Taki turned back to her as he began to reply. "I actually just moved here a few days ago. Before then I was living in Tokyo."

"You're from Tokyo?" Yotsuha sounded surprised.

"That's right." Taki confirmed with a nod.

"Oh, then you finally found yourself a Tokyo boy." Yotsuha both congratulated and unintentionally embarrassed her sister, whose face had begun to turn a rosy pink color, causing even her grandmother to chuckle.

"Yes, Mitsuha has always talked about wanting to see the city." Hitoha agreed.

"I'm sure she'd like it, there's a lot to see in Tokyo." Taki responded. "Thought to be honest I've lived there for so long that it never really felt like anything special."

"Yes, sometimes the passage of time may cause us to forget how much home truly means to us." Hitoha expounded. "I do hope you will find Itomori to be a good home."

"Well Mitshua and her friends have been great to me so far."

"That's good to hear. Perhaps you were fated to meet." Hitoha suggested.

"I don't think so." Taki shook his head. "I don't believe in fate or destiny. I think people are in control of their own lives."

"There are time where that may be so." Hitoha partially agreed. "Though was it in your control when you met Mitsuha?"

Taki fell silent for a brief moment. He did not agree with her fundamentally and believed people could still meet of their own accord. Yet she had him beat with the case of Mitsuha, as it truly was fate that had brought them together. In all likelihood they would have never met had it not been for their unusual body-swapping experience.

"Unfortunately, there are times when we are not in control of what goes on in our lives." Hitoha continued. "It is best to learn to go with the flow rather than against it."

"Uhh, so anyway..." Yotsuha quickly changed the subject. "What do you think of Itomori so far Tachibana-san?"

"Oh, well it's way smaller than the city, but that also means it's easier to get around." Taki answered her. He then began to dig into his meal before it became cold.

"Did you hear that we have a festival coming up this Friday?" She asked him.

"Yeah, we were talking about that at school yesterday." Mitsuha responded. "The comet is also supposed to pass closest to Earth that night."

"I don't know if I can go though." Taki got out between bites of food. "I'm pretty busy with moving in still."

"You should really try to make it." Yotsuha encourage him. "The fall festival is always so much fun!"

The four of them continued to chat as they ate together. Taki shared with them stories of his life in Tokyo, while in return Hitoha shared with him much of her knowledge of the town's history. Though most of it he had already heard before, all while under the guise of trying to pass as Mitsuha, yet he nevertheless listened attentively and enjoyed her stories. Taki still was amazed that someone actually managed to start a fire in their bathroom.

They eventually cleared all the food Hitoha had made that evening. Afterwards, Yotsuha assisted her grandmother in clearing the table. Taki had stayed until late in the evening, not heading out until many hours after the sun had vanished from the sky. After he grabbed his bag, Mitsuha led him to the front door to adorn his shoes before departing.

"Thank you for coming over Taki-kun." Mitsuha thanked him.

"It's no problem, besides, the food was delicious and I really enjoyed meeting your family." Taki replied with a kind-hearted smile, sitting down by the front step as she slipped his shoes on.

"Then we should do this again some time." She suggested.

"Yeah." Taki agreed as he turned around to face her one last time. "Say Mitsuha, before I go… would you like to come over to my place tomorrow?" He asked her nervously, tensing up as he gave his offer. Mitsuha's caramel eyes widened with shock in response.

"Wait, don't you live alone though?" She asked. "Does that mean we'd be at your house all alone?"

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping you'd be ok with that. I could still use some helping with my school work." Taki attempted to keep up a confident bravado, but his rosy cheeks betrayed him. There was a momentary pause before her answer.

"Sure." She replied with a grin. "I'd love to come over."

Taki let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Mitsuha." He turned and slid the front door open. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

"See you tomorrow Taki-kun." Mitsuha bid him farewell. Taki left through the front door and slid it shut behind him. Once he was gone Mitsuha headed to the kitchen to help with the dishes. Her younger sister was elbow deep in the sink, which was currently filled with a combination of soapy water and dirty dishes. Meanwhile Hitoha was drying off dishes from the clean pile Yotsuha had made before placing them back where they belonged.

"Taki-kun went home." She announced. "I'll help with the dishes."

"Thank you dear." Hitoha handed her the dish rag. "Why don't you take over for me? I think it's about time for me to retire for the night." As Hitoha began to exit the kitchen, she left Mitsuha with one last thing. "You should invite him over more often. He was quite a nice young man." Hitoha had then left the kitchen and headed to her room for the night.

"Goodnight Obaa-chan!" Yotsuha called out.

Mitsuha stood next the pile of cleaned, wet dishes and began to use the rag to dry off the ones her sister had cleaned. There seemed to be quite a lot considering there had been only four of them, yet neither sister minded. Once she had dried a plate or pan, Mitsuha would then return it to its proper place in the kitchen.

"Dinner was a lot of fun today." Yotsuha commented as she scrubbed the next plate clean. "You hardly ever invite anyone over, not even Natori-san and Teshigawara-san."

"Well I thought I should try to make Taki-kun feel welcome since he just moved in to town." Mitsuha replied from a cabinet across the room.

"I liked him." Yotsuha told her sister. "I can't really explain it, but for some reason when I met him it felt like I was meeting an old friend. He seemed kind of familiar somehow." She placed the cleaned plate onto the appropriate pile. Mitsuha smiled to herself after that, and continued to do so as she helped her sister clean the dishes from their pleasant evening.

* * *

Taki stayed up late that night, sitting at the low, square table in his house with his laptop. The glow of the screen was the only thing illuminating the otherwise dim room. He had decided to stay up that night in order to do research on hijacking radio signals. It had been as simple as downloading an anonymous web browser to access the deep web. There he had found plenty of instructions and forums on hijacking radio broadcasting and startup frequencies. Taki recalled that Tessie had a now defunct radio club, and that the old room still contained a number of old HAM radios. After taking several pages of notes, Taki turned off his computer some time just after midnight. As he sat down upon his futon he looked through his window and gazed upon the comet. It was not quite as bright as the stars which surrounded it, yet it lingered there clearly visible. Taki stared at the beautiful and yet dreadful sight with a pensive scowl.

* * *

They walked home from school the following day like they always would. Taki, Mitsuha, Tessie, and Sayaka headed back towards town together as the sun began to set. They split up again at the same spot as always, that road which lead down towards Taki's house. This day however Mitsuha had split off with him. They had informed their friends earlier that morning that they were both headed to Taki's place that day.

Sayaka was quite shocked at first, as she instantly realized that meant they would be alone together. Tessie too was surprised by this revelation, but not quite to the same degree. Sayaka immediately became worried about Mitsuha, and almost distrusting of Taki. However, Mitsuha had quickly managed to convince her that everything would be fine and that Taki could be trust. To which Taki himself backed up that he had simply invited her over to help him study.

Sayaka was much more accepting when they left, waving to her friends as she bid them farewell. Taki and Mitsuha separated from their friends, while Sayaka hopped on the back of Tessie's bike so that he could give her a ride home. It was a short walk from there to Taki's small house designed for one or two occupants. Taki went in first and flipped the light switch on as soon as he had entered the door.

"Come on in." He invited her as he stepped aside and took of his shoes, leaving them by the door. "I hope my place is clean enough for you."

"It's fine Taki-kun."Mitsuha reassured him. They both made their way towards the square table near the kitchen, and set their bags down beside them as they sat down. "So what subjects do you need help with?" She asked him.

"Well I already covered what we're doing in math now, so I'm good there. But I need help in every other subject." Taki replied.

"Alright, well I guess we've got quite a lot to get through today." Mitsuha remarked as she undid her bag.

"Thanks for coming over to help me Mitsuha." Taki expressed his gratitude.

"It's no problem at all. I don't mind helping you catch up Taki-kun." Mitsuha told cheerfully and with a smile that made him feel as if he wanted to melt.

"I'm glad to see we get along much better in person." He remarked.

"Yeah, we used to bicker so much back then didn't we?" She reminisced.

"Well I guess it was pretty shocking at first." Taki brought up. "I know when I found out I was swapping bodies with someone I had never met, who lived halfway across the country, I was pretty surprised."

"I'm honestly surprised you managed to never blow your cover." Mitsuha commented with a light chuckle. "I thought for sure Obaa-chan or Yotsuha would have noticed something."

"It really is pretty crazy how we met. But still, strange as it was, I'm glad to have met you Taki-kun."

"Mitsuha." Taki moved his hand so that it rested atop of her own. "I'm also really glad we met, especially in person." They began to move ever closer towards one another as their finger interlocked and once more they were connected. "Because the truth is, I love you."

"Taki-kun, I love you too." She returned, her was low yet did not waver. She was resolved in her true feelings and had been glad to hear those words come from Taki first.

Then, as if it were to seal their devotion to one other, they leaned forward and met each other with a kiss. It was a long passionate kiss that seemed to escape time. Just once was not enough for either of them. They had spent far too long apart, and for Taki this was even more exaggerated by the knowledge of the former time barrier. Now however, they were right next to each other physically, they could touch, they could interact with one another. Those few months that had begun as bickering before shifting into romantic tension were now allowed to be released. They spent a good deal of time making out there, and even when they actually tried to study they had once more failed to make much progress. They were together, both physically and abstractly, and to them nothing else in the world mattered.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello readers. I am sorry to inform you that I am going to be putting this story on a brief hiatus. Finals are coming up in the next coupe of weeks for me, and all the late semester work has become pretty mentally taxing. As a result, I feel as if the quality of the last couple of chapters has dropped to a point where I am a little unsatisfied with them. So I will likely not even begin chapter eight until after the semester ends.

I've also decided I need to stop worrying about how often I can pump out chapters and try to focus on quality over quantity. So the next chapter won't be up for a few more weeks, and after that I'll probably still stick to an irregular update schedule as I try to focus more on the quality of each chapter and trying to improve as much as I can. Until then, I hope you've enjoyed reading Your Fate.


	8. End of the First Cycle

There was a soft click as Tessie unlocked the door to the now abandoned club room. They had arrived in the early hours of the morning, well before classes would begin for the day. The room had once served as the club room for the now defunct radio club that Tessie had once run. It had been just a small club dedicated to working on and using HAM radios. By some stroke of luck he had managed to find two other students to keep the club up and running his freshman year. However, the other two students had both been in their third year, and without any new applicants Tessie was forced to close the club down early into his second year.

It had been many months since Tessie had last stepped foot in the now neglected room. A layer of dust covered just about the entire room like a thin covering of ashen-colored snow. A shelf covered the entire length of the wall to his left, and in front of him a couch and coffee table were pushed up against the wall which had the only window in the room. The left side of the room covered with boxes and clutter that accumulated from right next to the open door, to just behind the couch; while the long shelf fared no better, being just as cluttered. Boxes of spare parts, tool, and manuals along with a few old HAM radios were scattered across the shelf and floor.

"Here it is." Tessie announced as he stepped in the unkempt room, feeling a wave of nostalgia. "Sorry the place is such a mess, I don't really come here anymore."

"It's fine." Taki reassured him as he entered the room, following right behind Tessie, who made his way past the couch and knelt down at the shelf.

"Any one of these should be fine." He pointed down towards the bottom shelf, where three dusty aged radio units now lay. "Just take whichever one you'd like, and feel free to help yourself to any tools or parts."

"Thanks Tessie-san." Taki replied gratefully.

"It's no problem. Nothing here really gets used anymore, so it's better if this stuff goes to someone who can get some use it."

"I'm sorry about your club."

"Nah, it's alright." Tessie responded, sounding rather relaxed. "No point in dwelling in the past might as well look to the future."

"Right, I totally agree with you." Taki encouraged his friend as he made his way over to him. Taki squatted down and grabbed one of the three dusty and aged HAM radio units.

"So are you going to make it to the festival tonight?" Tessie inquired as Taki hoisted the small unit up.

"Yeah, I should be able to." Taki replied cheerfully. "I'm looking forward to it." He kept up that appearance of excitement despite such a bold faced lie. He was not looking forward to the upcoming festival, in fact he could feel a pit in his stomach whenever it came to mind. He knew what would happen that night, and aside from a certain denizen deity he was the only one who knew what was to come.

Taki carried that hefty, unused radio unit out of the club and headed back home before returning to school later that morning. Tessie closed and locked the door behind them before heading back to town alongside his friend. Taki was rather quite on the way back, and seemed to have a rather solemn air about him. While the rest of the town was preparing for an annual celebration and expected merrymaking, Taki instead was preparing himself for a long and cold night.

That feeling of utter dread weighed Taki down throughout the rest of his school day, and even seemed to weigh down time itself. His classes had begun to feel as if they were taking forever as Taki constantly kept averting his gaze towards the clock. Though he had managed to prepare some earlier that morning he still had some work to do before the festival later that night. He repeatedly caught himself tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the long hand of the clock slowly inch its way onward. Aside from his foot tapping, Taki kept his antsy demeanor hidden behind the guise of a diligent student.

In fact he was not even trying to keep up anymore, he didn't quite see the point in it. Taki failed to retain anything Miss Yukino has said from the start of class up until lunch. All that he could recall from those mere hours past was the quasi-eternity he spent waiting for his class to pass. Lunch was quite enjoyable for him as he ate alongside his friends and made plans for the festival that night. They were undeniably excited about that night as they enthusiastically discussed the festival and the rare comet. Taki began to feel sorry for them.

Before long they had to return to their classes, and once more Taki waited. He did begin to pay a little attention during their course on ancient literature. In this instance he actually read along in his book as Mitsuha stood behind him and read aloud to the class. "You came here O Gilgamesh, by toil and travail, what do I give you for your homeward journey?" The sound of her voice held the attention of everyone in the room as she read a line from the character Utanapishti.

"'Let me disclose, O Gilgamesh, a matter most secret,

to you I will tell a mystery of gods.

There is a plant that looks like a box-thorn

it has prickles like a dogrose, and will prick one who plucks it.

But if you can possess this plant, you'll be again as you were in youth.'

Just as soon as Gilgamesh heard what he said, he opened a channel.

Heavy stones he tied to his feet, and they pulled him down… to the ocean below.

He took the plant, and pulled it up, and lifted it.

The heavy stones he cut loose from his feet, and the sea cast him ashore.

Said Gilgamesh to him, to Urshanabi the boatman.

'This plant, Urshanabi, is the 'Plant of Heartbeat',

with it a man can regain his vigor.

to Uruk-the-sheepfold I will take it,

to an ancient I will feed some and put it to the test.

It's not shall be 'Old Man Grow Young'

I will eat it myself, and be again as I was in my youth!'

At twenty leagues they broke bread, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.

Gilgamesh found a pool whose water was cool,

down he went into it, to bathe in the water.

Of the plant's fragrance a snake caught scent,

came up in silence, and bore the plant off.

As it turned away it sloughed its skin.

Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept,

down his cheek tears were coursing.

He spoke to Urshanbi, the boatman.

'For whom, Urshanabi, toiled my arms so hard,

for whom ran dry the blood of my heart?

Not for myself did I find a bounty,

for the "Lion of Earth" I have done a favor!

Now far and wide the tide is rising.

Having opened the channel I abandoned the tools;

what thing would I find that served as my landmark?

Had I only turned back, and left the boat on the shore!'

At twenty leagues they broke bread,

at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.

When they arrived in Uruk,

Said Gilgamesh to him, Urshanabi the boatman;

'O Urshanabi, climb Uruk's wall and walk back and forth!

Survey its foundations, examine the brickwork!

Were the bricks not fired in an oven?

Did the Seven Sages not lay its foundation?

A square mile is city, a square mile date grove, a square mile is clay pit,

half a square mile the temple of Ishtar;

three square miles and a half is Uruk's expanse.'"

"Thank you Miyamizu-san, that was very good." Miss Yukino praised her and signaled her to sit back down. "So that ends our first reading, The Epic of Gilgamesh."

An uneasy feeling rose within Taki, and he tensed up after hearing the ending to that story. He was able to empathize after Gilgamesh's friend Enkidu died, and Taki had hoped that the titular character would achieve his goal. He could hardly continue paying attention as his teacher began to explain the aspect of ancient epics.

The remainder of his school day was rather uneventful. Taki tried to remain as attentive as possible throughout his classes, yet his mind remained focused on the events that were certain to take place that evening. As soon as the final bell had rang and dismissed them from their classes, Taki quickly began to gather his things in order to rush out of the classroom.

As soon as Taki had returned home he slung his backpack onto the floor beside him. He quickly got to work preparing for the night. The plan was to hijack the town hall's startup frequency through using the aid of his laptop. A program was set so that it would begin around 7:45pm, right as the comet would split. During his trip to the library in Hida, Taki had learned the times when the comet would split and when the meteor would subsequently impact Itomori. Thus, a prerecorded message, made using a computer generated voice, would alert the people of Itomori to a false evacuation order. They would all hopefully take it seriously and depart towards Itomori High School, which would be untouched by the destructive force of the impending meteor.

Taki simply had to do a little fine tuning, making sure the hijacking and pre-recorded messages were set to go off, and giving his new radio a small test run within his own home to make sure it was working properly. The aged radio unit started up without any issues, and worked quite smoothly. Taki assume that Tessie must have taken good care of his things, considering it hadn't been used in almost a year.

Soon everything was together, and Taki was prepared two hours prior to when the comet would split. Then it would be a battle against fate. Just after he had finished preparing, Taki heard his phone vibrate against the table. He picked it up and read a message from Mitsuha, which read…

"Hey, I'm getting ready to head to festival. Are you coming?"

He swiftly typed his reply. "Sure, I can make it." A few seconds later he received another message.

"Great! We're meeting at our spot with Sayaka and Tessie. You know the one, the one you helped build." A second message shortly followed.

"See you soon! ^w^"

Taki quickly changed into more casual attire, wearing gray slacks along with his black hooded jacket. It was the same attire he wore during his trip to the Miyamizu Shrine within the crater. With his plan ready to be set into action, Taki departed from his modest abode and went to rendezvous with his friends for what should be one final night in Itomori.

Taki was the last one to arrive at their designated meeting spot. Mitsuha and Sayaka were both dressed in yukatas, while Tessie, similar to Taki, was dressed more casually with a red jacket and gray slacks. He was also the first one to acknowledge Taki's presence.

"Here he is." Tessie waved over to him. "Hey Tachibana!" The heads of the two other turned as Taki approached.

"Hey!" Taki waved back as he greeted his friends.

"Glad to see you could make it Taki-kun." Mitsuha greeted him with an affectionate grin.

"Thanks." Once he was close enough, Taki took a good look at the dress Mitsuha had put on for that evening. "By the way, you look really nice in that yukata."

"Oh, thank you Taki-kun." She replied as her cheeks became suddenly became tinted a rosy pink. "So then, shall we head to the festival?"

"Sure." Taki agreed, offering his hand out while she in return interlocked her fingers with his.

The couple stayed a couple paces behind their two friends as they headed for the festival. By the time they had arrived at the heart of the festival where all the booths were located, the sun had already set and the stars dotted the inky sky. The first half of that evening was rather enjoyable for all of them. They spent their first few hours by playing various games, ordering food from a couple stands, and general sightseeing around the town's lively festival. Yet this period of bliss was fleeting, as soon the much anticipated moment would arrive.

Sayaka had begun leading the group as they went to find a spot to watch the comet. Three out of the four were grinning with excitement, while Take remained rather pensive. He became silent after they had left the festival, and he remained that way for the entirety of their walk. Eventually they came upon a gap in between the guard rails alongside the road with a dirt path leading slightly downward. "Here, this clearing up ahead looks like a good spot." Mitsuha suggested as she pointed down the dirt path. "Come on." She then took the initiative and treaded down the path which squeezed through the trees, leading to a wide grassy clearing on the other side. The others followed forthwith.

The grass swayed slightly from the chilly night breeze. They looked up towards the inky black sky. Hundreds of stars shined brightly to contrast to coal sky. Brilliant beacons of light from great distances illuminated the sky above, and on most nights would be the main attraction. This night was special however, as a rare comet passed by overhead. Its tail was a vibrant blue streak that highlighted the comet's path. As the comet passed by, its tail left behind a vivid spectrum of various shades of blue and purple. This once in a lifetime celestial event instantly attracted the gaze of the four high school students.

"Wow." Mitsuha whispered in amazement as she gazed upon the rare and wondrous celestial body flying overhead. Sayaka and Tessie both stood there, mouth agape and curved into a wide grin. None of them noticed the serious air surrounding Taki. As he watched the brilliant comet streak through the night sky, Taki felt as if a heavy weight had suddenly settled in his gut. He glanced down at his watch and saw the time change to 19:45. "Ah, look!" Mitsuha exclaimed, causing Taki's gaze quickly shifted upwards towards the splitting celestial body.

The comet glistened a couple of times before it split into two different parts. The first of the newly formed twins continued in its original direction as if nothing had happened; while the newly formed chunk of space rock split off towards a different direction and adopted a red glow to it. Brilliant bits of red lights, akin to sparks, began to fly from the head of the newly formed comet. The three natives of Itomori all gazed upon this exceedingly rare sight with wonder and awe, while Taki felt as if there was a ten pound weight settling in his stomach.

"Wow, I can't believe that just happened!" Sayaka exclaimed excitedly. "That was like two once in a lifetime events at once."

It was at that time the blaring sound of a siren rung throughout the rural lakeside town, shattering the still silence of the night. The four of them simultaneously turned their heads towards town.

"Attention, this is an emergency evacuation order." A computer generated female voice announced throughout the town. "All citizens are to evacuate to Itomori High School." The broadcast began to loop and repeat those simple instructions.

"Huh, what's going on?" Sayaka wondered aloud.

"Maybe they're afraid the comet is going to come down and hit us." Tessie joked with a grin, while none of them noticed Taki's sudden uneasiness.

"I guess we need to do what they say though." Taki surmised as he quickly regained his composure. "We'll probably get in trouble if we ignore it."

"Great, this is just how I wanted to end tonight." Mitsuha grumbled.

The four of them made their way towards the town's high school for the second time that day. Many other residents were either headed the same direction, or waiting on their families before departing. The better part of the crowd griped in a manner similar to Mitsuha, complaining about how this sudden evacuation drill was ruining their festive evening. Soon the townspeople began to form a crowd as they all headed towards Itomori High School.

As they were treading up the long and familiar path leading to the school, the blaring sound of the sirens suddenly came to an abrupt stop. The entire crowd came to a stop and looked about in confusion. Many quickly deduced that whatever had happened, the town hall had made a mistake and they were free to leave. A few began to trickle out of the crowd and return home, with the mass of the population soon following suit.

Taki, Mitsuha, and their two friends, stood alongside the road as the eager ones began to return home or to their previous festivities. "It seems like they made some kind of mistake." Tessie observed. "Man, I bet everyone is going to be pissed."

"It was kind of a waste of time." Sayaka agreed.

With seemingly no provocation, Taki suddenly took off down the path back towards town. His friends were all left behind in a state of confusion as they watched him bolt off into the night.

"Where's he heading off to in such a hurry?" Tessie wondered aloud. Instead of receiving any kind of response, he simply watched as Mitsuha soon followed after Taki, running as fast as she could in order to try and keep up. Tessie and Sayaka both just stood there even more lost than before.

"What a strange couple they are." Tessie remarked.

* * *

When he arrived on the street he lived on, Taki glanced around the corner of the home he was hiding behind, finding what seemed to be most of the town's police force gathered outside his house. The small home was now isolated behind a line of yellow tape, was surrounded by both officers of the law and town officials. Taki watched from his hiding spot as an officer carried away his aged HAM radio. Taki cursed under his breath.

A whole week of planning had now just gone out the window, as it became apparent that the town officials caught onto him quicker than he anticipated. His home was compromised and he was sure that he was now a wanted fugitive. In a few minutes, none of that would matter though. Yet, stubborn as he was, Taki refused to give up. He began to think of anything he could that might turn this situation around. The inspiration came when he saw an officer approach a certain official, the man that Taki recognized as Mitsuha's father.

Taki just then remembered than Mitsha's father was the mayor of Itomori. Though he had originally planned on not getting her involved, mostly since he did not wish for her to think he had lost his mind and become self-made prophet of doom; he now saw that she was likely his only shot at saving everyone. Having never even been noticed, Taki quickly retreated and went back the way he came.

Soon enough, he came across Mitsuha, who had been chasing after him as best she could while wearing more traditional sandals and a yukata. She was panting heavily by the time they met at the usual intersection where they would meet every morning. "Taki…" She managed to get out between breaths. "What's going on? Why did you just suddenly take off like that?" She asked.

"I'm sorry I made you worry like that Mitsuha." Taki apologized. "But there's something I need your help with."

Mitsuha stared back at him in confusion. "What is it?" She asked.

Taki began to mentally work on a way to word his next statement without coming across like a total loon. His pause only caused Mitsuha to worry more as he delayed to tell her the issue at hand. Mitsuha gently took his hands into her own and smiled at him.

"Taki, whatever it is, you can tell me." She reassured him. "I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you."

A smile came to Taki's face as he felt Mitsuha's words had warmed him, and any worry had quickly melted away like ice cream in the summer sun. "Thank you Mitsuha." He responded in relief. "I don't think we have a lot of time now, but…" Taki's voice trailed off and faded as he glanced down at at his pocket. His phone was pulled half out, resting on his palm, and the digital clock read 20:20.

There was a loud boom in the not so far distance, as if a bomb had just gone off. Taki and Mitsuha both looked towards the sound as the sudden loud noise caused them to jump. Mitsuha began to panic, Taki began to feel defeated.

"What was that?" She asked in a distressed voice. Suddenly another loud boom, this one closer; a cloud of earth and debris shot into the air. Mitsuha began to look around again, though this time she saw it. She stared up towards the star speckled night sky as one of those star now came crashing down towards her. "Taki-kun, is that… going to hit us?"

"I'm sorry Mitsuha." His voice was low, his spirit shattered. "I couldn't stop it."

The last thing he did that night was to wrap his arms around Mitsuha and hold her tight. The last thing he felt was her arms pulling him in before the meteor came and annihilated the entire town. Five hundred lives erased in the blink of an eye, and a small countryside town in Japan was crippled and left to mourn.

* * *

Taki awoke upright with a jolt. He was in his room in Itomori again, back on his old futon with his old sheets overtop his lower body. Taki glanced down at his hands in a daze, still in shock from what he had just experienced. He had just died that night alongside Mitsuha, right next to her.

"Did you learn your lesson?" A voice made him jump and turn to look towards the window. Standing there, next to the window, was Musubi.

"How did you get in here?" Taki asked in shock.

"I'm a god, remember? Itomori is my domain."

"What if someone sees you?"

"Again, I'm a god, I can make myself visible to only you." Musubi informed him. "So are you by any chance done already? Learned that some things are just inevitable?" The god reinstated his previous inquiry.

"Not a chance." Taki replied as he threw the sheets off of him, then going over to his phone to confirm that the week had reset. It was now Monday before school, and the comet would return again on Friday. "I get to reset as many times as I want, right? So I just have to keep trying until I get it right."

Musubi let out a sigh. "You mortals are so thick headed. Fine, have it your way." With that, the deity rapidly became transparent until he vanished altogether, leaving Taki alone to get ready for his second first day at school. Instead of continuing to feel defeated, Taki was now inspired to keep trying, to find some way to save Mitsuha and the town. He carried that determination with him as he headed out the door, ready to meet her once more, determined that this time he would succeed in his battle against fate.

* * *

 **A/N:** Greetings readers!

My apologies that this chapter took so long to come out, however I was admittedly a bit too lax during summer, and now this semester has me busier than ever. Needless to say, chapter updates from here on out will be sporadic and have long periods of time in between. I do full intend to finish this story, however I am becoming increasingly busier, and as a result I won't be able to update regularly. With that said, I do hope that you will stick around and continue to enjoy this work.


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